Grey Wolf: What qualifies as Luck?

What is "Luck?"  If "luck" was to see a Grizzly Bear in the wild, what would you call seeing a Grey Wolf in the wild? Very Lucky? But what if you saw both a Grizzly Bear and a Grey Wolf? What if you saw them both at the same time? And, what if you were able to photograph them together? Are we talking lottery kind of luck yet??

Okay, so you put yourself in the place with the most potential. How about Yellowstone National Park? So, I am at Yellowstone looking for Grizzly Bears and/or Grey Wolves. I was down in Hayden Valley when I saw at a distance what looked like a hundred or more Ravens circling overhead but off to one side. I thought to myself, must mean something big. And, if something big, maybe something big is eating it causing the Ravens to wait their turn. So I pull off the road and start hiking, camera and tripod in hand. After a couple hundred yards I come to a rather steep hill. So up the hill I climb. I get to the top and WOW!!!! I can see down below (about 100 yards away) a very large adult male Grizzly Bear chewing on a Bison. This was back in the "film" days, and I was running on empty (or close to it). So, I had to conserve film. With digital, I would have taken 300 photos easily. But as I paused (to conserve film) I looked around and saw a lone Grey Wolf sitting, patiently, about 75 yards further away. 

I should point out that I made no attempt to get any closer. This distance was going to have to do. I had my 400mm super telephoto lens and hoped that would do the trick. 

After watching for about 30 minutes, the Grizzly Bear stood up, turned and started walking away from the Bison (and from me). At the same time the Grey Wolf stood up and started walking toward the Bison. As you might imagine I am literally shaking with excitement. I am anticipating -- hoping -- for the moment when the Grey Wolf and the Grizzly Bear pass each other in the same frame.

So, just how lucky is this:

Grey Wolf and Grizzly Bear

A Big Thank You!!

It all started three years ago today. My first post on my first blog site. In those three years I have had 63,206 visitors. While not exactly Julie/Julia territory, I am nonetheless thankful for all of those who chose to visit. And, while I am aware that it is the "World Wide Web", I have been stunned that I have gotten so many visitors from Russia, Germany, India, Australia, The Netherlands, France and Mexico. The leading three are the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. which is not quite as surprising because they make up the lion's share of our B&B guests. There are several very faithful visitors who mention something to me on the phone or through email. And, there are a few faithful that comment frequently on my site including Rohrerbot who inspires me to continue.

As for the posts themselves, here are the most frequented pages:

Yellowstone National Park: 2005 Page Views, 11/29/2009
Cinnamon Black Bear

Prickly Pear Cactus Blossoms: 818 Page Views, 4/26/10
Prickly Pear Cactus in Bloom

Eating: Carnivores: 790 Page Views, 6/30/10
Grey Wolf

Gila Monster: 569 Page Views, 5/4/10
Gila Monster

Black Bear Scolding: 524 Page Views, 11/30/9
Black Bear with Cuibs

Thank you all again.

Dennis

CARNIVORES: Wolf Stories Part IV

Here is another Wolf Story, maybe. It was 1997, and I was driving just outside of Jasper National Park toward Hinton in Alberta, Canada. I was at least 10 miles from a home, ranch, or civilization of any kind.  I saw four "Wolves" or "Wolf-like" animals running along the tree-line. When I pulled off the road, the animals stopped, and looked at me. There were four: one dark brown, two greyish, and one white. Wolves typically come in one of four colors: dark brown, grey, white, and black. Wolves often run in packs of four. There is a fairly large wolf population in this part of Alberta. The brown one stayed at the tree-line. The two grey ones lingered about half way between the tree-line and the road. The white one came toward me in a "creeping" sort of way (like the wolf in the movie Dances With Wolves). Were these wolves? I faxed my photos to a Ranger at Jasper National Park. His response was "maybe." Over the past 13 years I have vacillated back and forth, often being too embarrassed say one way or the other. And, so they have sat in a bin of old photos -- never having been scanned into my computer. Why should I feel this way? After all, I am an "expert." What I have come to realize is that I am not an expert on wolves. I have come across over 400 bears in the wild, and I can with some confidence identify which are Grizzlies and which are Black Bears. But about these "wolves", I am still not sure. You decide. (They are in my computer now, though).

CARNIVORES: Wolf Stories Part III

I know what you are thinking. Am I ever going to show you a decent photo of a wolf. The answer is "sort-of" and "maybe". Today, is the "sort-of". Again I was in Yellowstone Park, this time in Hayden Valley which runs along the Yellowstone River. I saw a hundred or more ravens circling a couple hundred yards from the road. I assumed something was going on. As I reached the closest point from the road I noticed several vehicles parked along the shoulder with no one in sight. I suspected it was going to be a bit of a trek up and over a pretty steep hill. So, with camera and tripod in hand off I trotted. When I got to the top of the hill there were several photographers perched so they could get a good photo. Oh, what was it? It was a fully grown male Grizzly Bear (probably 1200 pounds) eating a Bison that had fallen. I wanted to walk down the other side to get closer, but it just didn't seem like a good idea at the time. After a couple of quick photos, I looked closer there was a Grey Wolf sitting about 75 yards away; waiting his turn. So, a couple more photos. (I was trying to conserve film since I was on my last roll). Then sure enough, after about 45 minutes, the Grizzly Bear ambled away, passing the oncoming Grey Wolf. I was thrilled to get both the Grizzly Bear and the Grey Wolf in the same shot, although from a greater distance than I would have liked. The Wolf ate for about 30 minutes then left. I waited another hour and a half thinking the Wolf might come back with the pack. But, not within that timeframe.  I only had a half dozen shots remaining on the roll, so, I decided to head for the nearest "town" (Fishing Bridge) to get more film. By the time I got back to that spot, there were no cars around. So, I figured "nothing more to see." That was probably a rationalization because I didn't want to trek back up that hill with an 8 pound camera and a five pound tripod again just to see a half-eaten bison. Once that day was enough. Of course, thinking back now, I probably should have made the trek, and waited until dark, if necessary, to try to get more photos. Someone (some thing) surely would have come along. It was too big a meal to pass up. Here are the photos:

Grizzly eating Bison

Grey Wolf slowing walking past "full" Grizzly

Grey Wolf now trotting to dinner

Grey Wolf now eating dinner

Grey Wolf checking to see if others are coming

CARNIVORES: Wolf Stories Part II

Wolves once ruled North America. In fact, they were the most widespread mammal species in the world at one point. That, of course, has changed. Canada has a fairly stable population of about 50,000 wolves. The United States has about 10,000 with 6,000 coming from Alaska, 2,500 from Minnesota, 1,500 from Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and 100 or so from Washington, Oregon, and Arizona.

Like Mountain Lions, I have gone looking for Wolves on many occasions, and typically without success. You need to go to places with the most potential. But, there is never a guarantee. I have gone several times into Apache National Forest of Arizona where there are 40-50 Mexican Grey Wolves, but never any success. So, much of it is luck; even in places of high concentration. For example, Yellowstone National Park. Lamar Valley is a favorite "Wolf Watching" spot. There have been a couple of times when I have seen a dozen or more people standing along the road with their "spotting scopes". That is of little use to the wildlife photographer as I will show you. In the first photo, you see Lamar Valley. There is a Grey Wolf in this photo which was taken with a 400 mm lens. Now, if I were somewhere else and there weren't other people around, I'd be hiking down into the valley to see if I could get a closer photo. But, that is inappropriate at Yellowstone under these conditions. Anyway, the second photo is "blow-up" using Photoshop. The quality is miserable, but at least you can see the Wolf. Interestingly, there is also a lone Pronghorn in the photo. The Wolf had been trying to "sneak-up" on the Pronghorn, but that's a race the Pronghorn will win every time.

The Gray Wolf is the "spec" in the middle of the first photo. The larger "spec" in the first photo (more to the right of center) is a Bison.

Eating: The Carnivores

More photos of wildlife doing what they do. This time eating:

Grizzly Bears eating an Elk that didn't make it through the winter.

A Grey Wolf eating a Bison that didn't make it through the winter.

An American Marten with a squirrel that he had captured.

A Coyote with the remains of a rabbit he had captured.

And three Northern River Otters eating a pretty good size salmon they had just captured.