5/12/14

This afternoon, after work, we drove around the lower loop, now that Craig Pass is open. Saw a lot of snow between Old Faithful and Canyon. Didn't see any wildlife until we got to Gibbon Meadow on the west side of the loop, near the end of our trip. There we got stuck in a bison jam for a few minutes. Out of a herd of a dozen or more, there was one baby bison that was walking with its mother along the road. Penny got a few good shots of it while we were creeping by.

About a quarter mile from the campground, Penny saw a wolf. She wasn't able to get a picture of it as we drove by and it was gone by the time we were able to turn around and go back.

5/13/14

Yesterday we drove counter clockwise around the south loop, this morning we drove clockwise around it. About a quarter mile up the west side of the loop we ran into a bison jam.

 Just below Gibbon Falls we saw a large bald eagle perched in a burned tree across the river.

 

There was a lot of snow from Norris Junction to Fishing Bridge but not much wildlife. Just south of Bridge Bay we saw our first bear. It was a black bear but at least it was a bear.

 

Early in the afternoon, as we approached the Madison Junction and the campground, we had another bison jam.

 

Later in the afternoon we took a hike down to the river, since we had to take the trash out anyway. There were a couple of elk laying and grazing in the meadow between the Gibbon and Firehole rivers and one of them crossed the Gibbon while we were watching.

 

While we were watching the elk, out of the corner of my eye I saw a small animal swimming across the river. It swam to the far bank and appeared to be dining on some of the grass at the edge of the river. Because it never left the river, we couldn't get a picture of its entire body but we were able to get some shots of its head and back. Unfortunately, when I zoom in on the picture, it becomes pixelated long before I can tell what kind of animal it was. I think it was a beaver, but it's very difficult to tell since I never saw its tail. It could also have been a river otter or a marmot, I suppose, but I don't think the marmot is as aquatic as this animal was and it seems too fat to be an otter.

 

5/14/14

We took a drive through the Lamar Valley today, all the way to the northeast entrance of the park. There wasn't much wildlife activity between the campground and Mammoth Hot Springs. On the other hand, between Mammoth Hot Springs and the north east entrance we saw a few elk, pronghorn and big horn sheep.

 

We stopped by the petrified tree and came across some very friendly ground squirrels.

 

The Lamar Valley seemed to be carpeted with bison, hundreds of bison. In one section alone we counted over 50 bison. In another smaller herd we counted 13 baby bison. On the way from Mammoth out to the north east entrance, most of the bison were lying down, resting.

 

We also saw a red tail hawk circling over the Lamar river.

 

On the way back towards Mammoth, a baby bison decided to cross the road, but took its time doing so.