Yellowstone Chronicles 5-7-08
Spring has actually arrived. Yep it is true, we now have mud. We also have bears, wolves, Bison calves and lots of dead Bison.
As I may have mentioned we don’t have very many Bison calves. There were many still births and Bison still falling over dayly from starvation. As you can see from the photo there are slim picking. When ribs are showing through a thick Bison coat like this the end is near. This will keep going on for the next 3 or 4 weeks.
In the mean time there is the usual wolf activity. The Slough creek pack is dened way across frim (where else) Slough Creek.
The Druids are Denned in their old location near the hitching post in Upper Lamar Valley. I haven’t been over there but I have been told that the closure area has been increased.
It was generally dark, Flat light and raining today so we are back in the valley pickup supplies.
Are we living in a bear Den?
On May 2nd we went back up to our cabin which is in the heart of Grizzly country just southwest of the continual divide and the Idaho Montana border. We hadn’t been there for about a week while we did some business in Idaho Falls. To my shock there was this good sized hole in the snow under our deck. After a couple of quick snapshots I went back to the truck and returned for a close inspection without my camera but with bear spray.
What had happen there? Well I am not sure. It is melting time and tracks were a mess. There were bear and wolf tracks around but that is common. The tracks at the hole were melted out but I didn’t see any little tracks like cubs. A few weeks ago I had noticed a small hole in the snow next to the post on your left. I didn’t pay much attention since it happens that marmots and squirrels sometime den under decks. But thinking back it could have been a breathing hole kept open by the warm breath below. As you can see from the size of the hole this was no marmot. What ever it was I hope it has a great spring, summer and fall. It is even welcome back next winter since I will be spending my time between Arizona, Gardiner and Texas.
Yellowstone Chronicles 1 open for business
As you can see the park service has allowed us to enter their park again. After having the roads open for the park services private use for the past 6 weeks we are again allow to visit.
OK off the soapbox. Sure there are things happening in Yellowstone but this early in the season is usually not that great of a time to be in Yellowstone. This year the weather has been horrendous. As I look out the window here 70 miles south of Yellowstone the highways are closed due to ice and snow.
Gawd, this is the first of May. I came back from the southwest early to work on finishing my cabin just outside of West Yellowstone. HA! We have steps dug in the drifts just so we can walk into the place. I guess the joke is on me this year.
Oh the photo. It makes a good point that a old rancher in New Mexico made about the reintroduction of wolves. Coyotes kill calves as well as wolves and ranchers have worked around those losses as part of doing business. If the wolves were gone it would be the coyotes killing their livestock. Some said a coyote couldn’t kill a calf. Well this bison calf is much tougher than any cowboy doggie.
Get over it boy’s if you are going to do business on the publics land, live with the publics will.
FYI the bison calf didn’t make it.
Yellowstone Wolves I
Actually this is more shameless self promotion rather than news. The above is a photo of mine that will be on the back cover of the Spring 08 Defenders Magazine.
The article that this image promotes has some interesting thought about the delisting of wolves if you get a chance read it and weep.
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