On our last full day in Yellowstone we opted to look for more wildlife amidst the immense landscapes. We took another drive to Roosevelt and then Lamar Valley, and hit the jackpot in terms of bears as well as a few other animals. Here are some photos:
Mammoth Hot Springs steaming in the distance. The white minerals making up the steaming terraces are travertine, a form of calcium carbonate deposits found in caves and springs. Look just this side of the terraces and you can see a few buildings to give a sense of scale. One of our photographic challenges was always how to capture the immensity of the views. Our eyes and brains work together to provide an appropriate sense of awe when we see this in person, but we are still learning how to capture it in an image.We passed a fresh elk kill near Blacktail Pond, on the way to Roosevelt. The kill had been there for only a couple of days, and the professional photographers were frustrated that something or some things were coming to eat the carcass in the middle of the night when nobody was around to see. One photographer had stayed until 11:00pm and another arrived at 2:00am, and in between those hours something ate about half of the elk. Probably a pack of wolves, since I don’t think a bear could eat that much that fast. Anyway, when we passed by on May 7 we were fortunate to see a coyote on the kill, and he saw us, too.We watched the coyote at his meal for several minutes, and in between bites he kept looking up to scan the area around him. Suddenly, he decided that he was done and headed off down the valley. Did he smell or hear wolves in the distance? We waited for a few minutes to see if some other predator would show up, but never did see the reason for the coyote’s sudden departure.Small herd of elk skylined on a ridge above the road. They know that they are potentially part of a carnivore’s food, and were appropriately skittish.“Red dog” baby bison. We saw many of these recently-born calves with the bison herds, and they were fun to watch. Usually they stayed close to their mothers, but once in a while they would prance, jump, and skip, bouncing all over the ground as they enjoyed their new life. Reminded us of Malachi 4:2, to see how they skipped and jumped!We first thought these were pronghorn in the distance, but then we realized the horns were wrong for pronghorns, and that pronghorns look much sleeker than these animals. Think these are female bighorn sheep, gradually shedding their winter coats.Osprey sitting in nest above the Lamar River. Kind of a raggedy nest, and it does not look particularly secure in that dead tree, but maybe that’s what they like.Grizzly bear among the thickets in Lamar Valley. This bear was was prowling around as if looking for something, but never did stop or graze. Nice looking coat!Another bear, further down the road. Not sure if this is a black bear or a grizzly. We can’t go by color, so does he have a hump between his shoulder blades? Yet another bear. This one had just crossed the Lamar River and started climbing up the loose slope on the far side from us. No shoulder hump, so we assume it was a black bear.Same black bear as before, at the top of the river bank. Looking at the size of the bear compared to the scrub brush, it would be easy to miss seeing such an animal if it was in among the bushes.Yet another bear, this one cinnamon-colored. We think this one was a grizzly, too, because we got a brief glimpse of the characteristic dish-shaped face. This was another bear foraging for something to eat.Tourists in front of the old entrance arch just outside of Gardiner, MT. This was near the end of our visit, and we were almost ready to head home. It was a great time, and we thank God for the opportunity to see such a spectacular part of His creation!
Beautiful pictures!