Update November 28, 2007: Yellowstone trip. More pictures added Dec. 3!
Note: The majority of the notes for this update from Yellowstone were also used for my three ecology classes that I teach at Barnstable High School. The underlined terms are word bank terms which the students are responsible for on future quizzes and/or tests. They watched the 1 hour 15 minute video from our trip which summarized what you read below.
Yellowstone Trip Nov. 17-23, 2007
Our Thanksgiving Trip was successful with many animals observed during the week. We observed hundreds of elk as they are currently migrating to lower elevations to spend the winter in milder temperatures and less snow. Most deer are now at even lower elevations than elk and are north of and outside the park in surrounding ranchland. We also saw bison throughout the park. Bison are the animals that most commonly cause traffic jams, literally standing on roads.
We had numerous sightings of coyotes. However most of them were single or in small groups. Normally I see them in packs at least a few times.
We did have 1 grizzly bear sighting. It was a large boar (male) and was lethargic and clearly ready for hibernation.
We spent the most time looking for wolves and were very successful seeing wolves everyday, including 38 individuals on Wed. Nov. 21. We mostly saw the Agate Pack, named after a river in the park (Agate Creek). We also did see the Druid Peak Pack, Slough Pack, and Silver Pack, which is a new pack of 6. The Druids have killed 2 Slough wolves in the past week as they claim additional territory.
Perhaps most impressive was the cold front that came in mid-week including 4 days in minus degrees F and 1 day -20 F. It was freezing.
Equally impressive was the lack of people in the park due to the holidays and the number of elk observed with bull (male elk) and cows (female elk) in separate groups. Bulls stay in small groups (3-8) while cows stay in large herds throughout the winter with some herds (groups of ungulates) in the hundreds.
Our trip was aided by the help of Rick McIntyre, a wolf naturalist (originally from MA) and expert wolf spotter, and Laurie Lyman, who is a former teacher from San Diego and has retired with her husband Dan in the area. They all go out everyday looking for wolves. They have radios so we can communicate where animals (mostly wolves) are.
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To add to those notes, wolf activity was very busy. The Druids (16 members) really are expanding their territory and have aggressively killed 2 Slough wolves (originally 20 members, now 18 with 2 of those likely in beginning to disperse, or leave, the pack) in as many weeks. The Druids also have a few lone wolves in their territory. A gray male is actually courting 1 or 2 of the females and the dominant Druid males (#s 480 and 302) seem to leave him alone despite being in their territory. He behaves similar to #302 when he was the Casanova wolf breeding Druids when 302 wasn’t part of the pack as “famous” wolves 21M and 42F ruled the pack (back in 2002-2004).
The gray male actually courted 2 of the Druid females as the main pack was about ½ mile away (wolves and coyotes don’t mate until late January – early February). Interestingly, the Druid adults left him alone but howled which soon got a black pup associating with them to run back to the pack, then a few minutes later the gray yearling (who the male is really courting). The gray male never seems to associate with the pack but does hang out with those 2 within their territory. This is fascinating stuff being documented for the first time in Yellowstone, where the wolves are so very visible (often from a distance of a mile or more).
Additionally, the Silver Pack (named for the alpha being a silver color) has recently resurfaced in the Little America area of Yellowstone. They haven’t been seen since last winter when there were 3 members; now there are 6 (including three 7.5-month old pups). Six wolves is an average wolf pack size in North America but inside the park they are literally eking out an existence among 4 large wolf packs (Druid, Slough, Agate, and Oxbow) in a very small area, at least as far as wolves go. Their movements seem to be entirely within the home ranges of those other packs. Time will tell if they somehow survive the winter by avoiding the larger packs which all number about 16-18 members or if some of them are killed and they end up breaking up as a pack. Below, a picture shows 7 Agates running with their tails held high as 3 Silver Pack wolves had just crossed the main road (and Lamar River) and went south up Specimen Ridge in Little America. A car caused the Agates to turn around and run back to the north.
Here are some pictures from the trip taken by my colleague Steve Cifuni of Revere, MA (I took 1 hr 15 min of video of the same stuff!).
Added Dec. 3, 2007. Druids (14 of the current 16 pack members) taken through my Bushnell spotting scope. Wolves 302, 480, and 569 are all there.
Agate Pack - 7 of the 17 running with tails high after the Silver Pack
Alpha female wolf 472 crossing road (she recrossed to rejoin her pack, most of which did not cross the road).
Student Becca Cabral on west side of Specimen Ridge overlooking Yellowstone River (note: there is a large herd of elk below her near the river).
Bison, one of my favorite animals.
Students Jack Sullivan (left) and Joe White (right) doing a 7 mile hike with me (and Steve Cifuni) on Blacktail Road.
Author with Joe White (right) overlooking bison on a snowy day.
Coyote standing then crossing road.
Elk at Mammoth (headquarters of the park)
Moon overlooking NW Lamar Valley.
Joe White holding up elk antler with partial skull (probably a wolf kill).
Lamar Valley - west side pointing east.
Magpie (western bird like a bluejay) and Mammoth Hot Springs.
Mule deer; buck (left) and fawn (right)
Elk herd up close. I am amazed by the number of elk that I see in Yellowstone despite wolves (and other predators) purportedly reducing their numbers greatly. If we saw this many deer back east everyone would say we need a deer hunt to reduce their numbers. I love seeing ungulates of all kinds and wish deer were this abundant on Cape Cod.
Most elk herds are seen from far away like this herd of a couple hundred 500-lb dots (elk) from about 1.5 miles away.
Finally, for those of you who were able to watch Bob Landis’ great nature film recently on the series Nature on PBS I have the following notes to elaborate on the wolf pack drama that has unfolded on the Northern Range of Yellowstone. Incidentally, I had the good fortune of talking with Bob as he was in the park all week, like he normally is. It is fascinating to talk with a world famous filmmaker.
In the Valley of Wolves
This documentary (2007 on PBS’s Nature program) focuses on the Druid Peak Pack in the NE part of Yellowstone National Park. Specifically, the pack’s core territory is in the Lamar Valley, the lowest elevation in the park (6,200 feet). Most elk winter here because there is less snow than in other regions of the park. This concentrates wolf activity since elk are their main prey.
The video focuses on key wolves that wore radio-collars. Mated pair wolf 21 (male) and 42 (female) were famous wolves because they were long-lived (both are dead now) and often observed. Wolf 302 (called the Casanova) was a “lover not a fighter.” He often mated Druid females then left the territory without getting killed. He eventually joined the pack in 2005 after #21 died.
Inter-pack fighting is the leading cause of death of Wolves in Yellowstone as they fight, often to the death, over territory space which is often 100-200 square miles in size per pack. The video showed the Slough Creek Pack take some of the Druid’s territory then the Unknown Pack (probably a pack that normally lives outside of the park) take siege of the Slough’s den. Eventually, the Druid Peak Pack regained most of the Lamar toward the end of the video.
The video shows many scavengers at wolf carcasses (dead elk and bison) including coyotes, grizzly bears, ravens, magpies (birds), and bald and golden eagles (2 different species).
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IT IS AMAZING THAT THERE ARE WILD PLACES SUCH AS YELLOWSTONE WHERE HUMANS HAVE A NEGLIGABLE EFFECT ON WILDLIFE. I DREAM THAT WE CREATE A PARK LIKE YELLOWSTONE BACK EAST WHERE WILDLIFE IS PROTECTED FROM HUMAN EXPLOITATION. I HAVE PROPOSED THE TOWN OF BARNSTABLE AND SURROUNDING AREAS AS A WILDLIFE PRESERVE BUT NO ONE HAS TAKEN THAT ADVICE TO FRUITION YET, DESPITE WILDLIFE WATCHING IN MASSACHUSETTS ALONE MAKING ABOUT $469 MILLION PER YEAR COMPARED TO $58 MILLION IN HUNTING EXPENDITURES. THERE IS SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT A LANDSCAPE THAT DOES NOT HAVE HUMAN INTERFERENCE. WHY CAN'T WE HAVE THIS OUT EAST SO WE DON'T HAVE TO TRAVEL TO FAR-OFF PLACES SUCH AS YELLOWSTONE TO SEE NATURE IN RAW, UNEDITED ACTION?
