Back to Yellowstone

The jam of vehicles and battery of long lenses told us that this was a wildlife sighting of significance – not one of the frequent bison crossings that stop traffic on the park’s roads. We were enroute to a campground with Happy in tow our first day in Yellowstone and managed to double park in an overlook midway through the Hayden Valley.
Silhouetted atop a sage-covered hill above us was a large black wolf – the pack’s alpha male, a ranger guessed, because he was collared. As we watched through binoculars and other spectators’ scopes, he began digging vigorously, stopping only in apparent exhaustion to lie down in the sage. A gray wolf appeared and took over the task, digging strongly. The wolves were destroying a coyote den.
Off at a safe distance, a tan coyote was lying on a grassy slope in a posture of defeat. Earlier, spectators told us, there had been constant agitated communication between the coyote pair. Now, only one parent remained, lifting her head occasionally to look up the hill. We watched for some time but left before the denouement. With a plaintive howl, the coyote called to her doomed pups.
. . .

A few hours later, we passed through the same area, now blanketed in several inches of new snow. A few cars were parked at the pullout, their passengers studying maps or gazing through binoculars at the valley below. The sage-covered hill on the other side of the road gave no evidence of what had transpired earlier.
. . .

It had really been extraordinary, a ranger told us the next day, that we had been able to witness such true life drama. Disturbing as it had been, it was a rare glimpse into the countless scenarios that play out in the natural world, where predators kill other predators in turf wars, and some animals’ offspring serve as food for others. Yellowstone’s coyote population plummeted with the introduction of wolves, who view the smaller canines as competition and easily kill them.
Our sadness was lifted later that day when we came upon a bear jam and were able to watch a grizzly sow and her young cub in an open meadow for over a half-hour. The mother dug in the soft earth with her three-inch claws, sending huge clods flying as she hunted for voles or the nutritious roots of heartleaf arnica and balsam. The sandy-colored cub watched, delighting the growing crowd of onlookers by standing on his hind legs and peering at the humans. Rangers directed traffic and kept spectators on the opposite side of the road, since few things are more dangerous than a grizzly sow with a young cub. But the griz appeared oblivious, concentrating on replenishing calories lost during a long winter fast and rearing a new cub.
To top off the day, a black bear broke from the forest and crossed the road just in front of us on our way back to camp, where resident bison "Bob" and a buddy browsed the grass between tents and RV’s.
Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/happytwo.mcwilliams/1Yellowstonespring2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOeGtJCAz__l0wE&feat=directlink