Yellowstone Wildlife Profiles

Wolves flirting in Yellowstone

Love is in the air...sort of. A couple of weeks ago, we watched 1392M flirt with (or pester?) 1478F, but she wasn't in the mood and let him know that in no uncertain terms. During wolf breeding season, the females have a lot of say in if, when, and with whom they breed. While 1478F wasn't in estrus and ready to breed yet a couple of weeks ago, she may consent to breeding when she is ready. ----- #wildlifevideos #yellowstonewolves #natgeowild #keepitwild #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Junction Butte wolves in Yellowstone

We enjoyed watching the Junction Butte Pack yesterday! They were wrestling and playing as they traveled after feeding on a fresh bison carcass.

Mollies Wolves in Yellowstone

With the recent death of 907F, wolf 1090F of the Mollies pack is now (to my knowledge) the oldest wolf in the park. She was born into the Mollies pack in 2014, so she will turn 11 years old in April. Black at birth, 1090F is turning gray in her advanced age, a common pattern for wolves (and for people....). In this video, taken through our spotting scope on a recent tour, she is seen walking from right to left. She looks perhaps a bit stiff in the hind end, but otherwise seems healthy for her age. ----- #wildlifevideos #yellowstonewolves #FindYourPark #keepitwild #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Elk rut in Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone

(Sound on to hear bugling!) The elk rut is in full force in Mammoth, as bull #24 herds his harem of cows through the village. The green, manicured lawns at Mammoth Village are comprised of Kentucky bluegrass that was planted when the Army was in residence. It was intended to reduce the dust around the parade grounds and throughout the dry village where wealthy visitors from the lush forests of the East often spent their first night in Yellowstone. Today, the grass is considered to be part of the Fort Yellowstone historical district, so it is irrigated and maintained - which also provides excellent elk forage at a time of year when most other grasses have dried up in preparation for winter. ------- #wildlifevideos #FindYourPark #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Sandhill Cranes in Yellowstone

Families of sandhill cranes are moving through Yellowstone on their fall migrations. We enjoy watching them feed on grasses and insects in open meadows and valleys. At this time of year, you might notice that some sandhill cranes are brown, while others are pale gray. The gray plumage is their typical winter plumage; cranes often preen themselves by rubbing brownish mud on their feathers with their beaks in the spring and early summer, turning their plumage brown and adding camouflage for the breeding season. ---- #wildlifevideos #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Wolves on a bison carcass in Yellowstone

What do you notice when you watch this video? Can you tell which wolf is more dominant, and which is more subordinate? It’s amazing what you can observe when you take some time to slow down and really watch animal behavior! We were fortunate to watch these two Junction Butte pack wolves on a bull bison carcass last week. The Junction Butte alpha male is black with gray cheeks, so we initially thought this might be him; however, while we heard folks around us calling this the alpha male, we observed how low this individual’s tail was held the entire time we watched, indicating that this is a subordinate wolf, not the alpha male. Subordinate female 1386 is also black with gray cheeks, and by carefully observing the body language and interactions between these two, we were able to correctly ID this wolf as 1386F. Some of you may know that a wolf only gets a number if the wolf has a collar, and yet 1386F does not have a collar in this video; she lost her collar, but she is still visibly identifiable and therefore is still referred to by her research number. A note about terminology: You may have heard that the term “alpha” is outdated. Biologists who study wolf populations elsewhere (e.g., the Great Lakes region) now favor the term “breeding” male and female instead of “alpha” male and female. In wolf populations with simple pack structures, where leadership is determined almost exclusively by who the breeding adults are in a pack that consists only of adults and their own offspring, “breeding” is a more accurate term than “alpha.” However, here in Yellowstone, pack structures are complex, and leadership is determined by a variety of factors. Often, there are multiple breeders within one pack, yet there is still clearly a dominant, or lead, female and male. The Junction Butte pack is a prime example: 1386F is decidedly NOT the lead or alpha female (as evidenced by her body language here), and yet she is a breeder most years, including this ye

Osprey chicks on nest in Yellowstone

Last week, all three osprey chicks were still on their nest in northern Yellowstone. When we checked a couple of days ago, one had fledged, and I'm sure the others will follow very soon (if they haven't already!). Mom and Dad will continue to feed and watch over the youngsters for some time after they leave the nest, but by fall, the chicks must be ready to migrate on their own. The two adults also will migrate separately from one another, and will meet up again at this nest next spring to begin the cycle again. ------ #wildlifevideos #FindYourPark #keepitwild #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Grizzly bear in Yellowstone

Grizzlies have been elusive with the hot temperatures the past few weeks, but we managed to spot this one traveling above Lamar Valley in the cool early-morning hours of our Sunrise Wolves & Wildlife tour yesterday. Many grizzlies are at high elevations right now, eating tiny Army cutworm moths, investigating whitebark pine nut crops, and staying cool during hot summer days. As temperatures cool and food resources shift over the next few weeks, some bears will return to lower elevations, and our luck with spotting them is likely to improve into the autumn. ----- #yellowstonebackcountry #wildlifevideos #FindYourPark #keepitwild #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Wolf Pup in Yellowstone

The Junction Butte wolf pups are getting big! Yesterday, we watched them frolick and play not far from their den. They are getting more adventurous, wandering farther and farther. Most likely, they will leave the den area for good within the next few weeks. The fact that they are still near the den is remarkable, as the Junction Butte pack has moved their pups away from the den to a summer rendezvous site in mid-June each of the past few summers, yet here we are in mid-August and they're still hanging around the den! We've been fortunate to enjoy a lot of great wolf-watching this summer, and we look forward to seeing where these "little" ones end up over the course of the fall and winter as they begin to travel with the pack, moving on to the next phase of their wolf education: learning how to hunt, how to patrol territory, and how to interact within the social structure of their family. ----------- #wildlifevideos #yellowstonewolves #FindYourPark #keepitwild #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Moose in Yellowstone

Here's a video of the cow moose from our tour last week. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying munching on aquatic vegetation, keeping her head underwater for what seemed like ages before resurfacing with a mouthful of greenery. Not only is most aquatic vegetation extremely digestible, it's also richer in sodium than terrestrial vegetation is, and this may be why moose seek out aquatic vegetation throughout the summer. ------ #wildlifevideos #FindYourPark #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Grizzlies "see" the world through their noses, with a sense of smell that is estimated to be 7 times better than that of a bloodhound. That's why it's so important to keep food and other "smellables" tucked safely away when you're living or camping in bear country! Bears are naturally curious and will investigate novel scents in order to discover new food sources. Once a bear learns about a good food source, whether from Mom as a cub or by exploring on its own later in life, that bear will remember that food source for the rest of its life. [Video shows a grizzly walking through Lamar Valley, nose on the alert, smelling for food. Video was shot by Yellowstone Wildlife Profiles guide Josh while on tour.] ------ #wildlifevideos #natgeowild #FindYourPark #keepitwild #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation

Wolf pup in Yellowstone

Wolf puppy! We watched this black pup on Sunday morning. The pup was very curious about all the digging the gray adult was doing to renovate the den. At this age, wolf pups weigh only about 7-10 lbs and have the floppy ears and "smushed" face characteristic of young animals. In the next month or so, the pups will be weaned and their facial features will start to look more adult-like, with ears standing up, forehead elongating, and nose becoming more pointed. Many domestic dog breeds, close relatives (some biologists even say subspecies) of gray wolves, retain juvenile wolf traits into adulthood. Think about the floppy ears of many domestic dog breeds, the shorter face of a breed such as a pug, the curled tail, and the more prominent forehead, which is present even in more "wolf-like" breeds such as malamutes, huskies, and german shepherds. The retention of juvenile traits - called neoteny - indicates that most "good dogs" are genetically, morphologically, and behaviorally very similar to juvenile wolves throughout their lives. This is what makes domestic dogs good pets: They have the social communication capabilities of wolves, and yet they don't seek to become dominant over their human "pack-mates" because they see themselves as pups for their whole lives. --- #wildlifevideos #yellowstonewolves #natgeowild #keepitwild #yellowstonewildlife #experienceyellowstone #VisitGardinerMT #yellowstone #yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonecountry #yellowstoneeducation