Yellowstone Celebration (Part 1)

This 100 year anniversary of the National Parks I chose to visit the first ever National Park in the world, Yellowstone.  President Ulysses S. Grant's legacy "for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."  I really enjoyed my visit!  Yellowstone spans Montana, Wyoming, and a little bit of it in Idaho.

The beautiful Yellowstone wolves were exterminated, the last wolf killed in 1926.  Visionary Aldo Leopold recommended wolf reintroduction for Yellowstone in 1944, recognizing that a vital piece in the ecology was missing and the impacts were changing the ecology of the area.  It was a long political struggle, but finally wolves were reintroduced in 1995.  I can't imagine the Park without them.

To learn all about Wolves returning to Yellowstone, I highly recommend a book by Douglas W. Smith and Gary Ferguson called Decade of the Wolf
There was so much to my adventure, I'm going to tell the story in a mini-series on the blog.  Are you planning time away from it all?  Think about a wonderful trip to one of our precious National Parks.

A wolf's life is beautiful and tough.  Survival takes a strong heart and a fierce mind.  Male wolves are heavier, and run slower so the lighter and faster females lead the hunting.  The females strike first and catch the prey, then the heavier, slower males com in for the kill.  Life is relatively short, and often ends brutally.

Ground squirrel from under the rock

And then on the alert, perhaps concerned about a bird of prey.

Bald Eagle

Trumpeter swan in the light snowfall.  

Elk in velvet, as they say, as his antlers are growing.  The material gets blood flow to the antlers to help their growth.  Later it falls off, or is rubbed off.  You might say this elk is on the way to a large rack.

We did see a couple of elk butting heads and getting in a little "discussion", but nothing serious at this spring time of year when everyone is taking care of their young.  More serious confrontations would occur in the fall during rutting, the mating season.

Elk grazing in the delicious grasses.  Grazers eat grasses.  Browsers eat grasses and shrubs, like sage.  This elk was on the edge of a small herd.  But, at this time of year when you see an elk that's truly alone, she's probably getting ready to birth and that's why she's gone off on her own.  A new mother will then stay on her own with her calf for bonding, doing her best to hide all traces and scent so the vulnerable baby is safe from predators.

Sand Hill Cranes in Yellowstone. Often their feathers get stained by the sulphur rich Park 

Sand Hill Crane

Grizzly Bears.  Grizzlies and Brown Bears are two names for the same bear.  The Lewis and Clark expedition referred to "a brown bear with a grizzled appearance" and the name stuck.  Long ago in the past history, Brown Bears originated in Eastern Siberia.  Black Bears are the only native bear of North America.  Pictures of Black Bears and much more to come in the further adventures of my Yellowstone Celebration.

The cub you see here with the mother bear is from last year, but still a young bear.

At the time we saw these bears I was so excited I forgot that I was chilled numb to the fingertips and had just watched a tremendous snow storm sweep across the valley.  We watched it from the far distance come toward us, then hit us.  It was a complete white out of the whole mountain range, laying like a heavy white curtain drawn across.  Then suddenly, it was gone - moved on down the valley.