06 February 2005 - Sunday

I headed out into the park at 2:06 PM on a nice warm partly sunny afternoon. At the triangle area just north of the North Entrance there were mule deer and antelope playing along with elk. I checked for bighorns along the Gardiner River with no success. But, it was a great start so far headed back home. The temp in Gardiner was about 41 degrees.

Elk and bison by Wraith Falls and Blacktail Lakes. Some were closer to the road but not on it, so no buffalo jams, just a nice easy drive into Parkadise. The temp had dropped to 24 degrees in the park.

At 3:30 PM just south of the Lamar Ranger Station the Druid Peak Pack was out in view. I pulled over at the turnout just east of the ranger station and setup my scope. The pack moved down until they were just straight south of this pullout. There were seven wolves, four black and three grays. They included the alpha female 286F and alpha male 480M and five others.

The other wolf watchers and wolf volunteers were ecstatic with the sighting. The wolves had made a kill earlier in the morning and had fed on it and now were just kicking back and relaxing being full and content.

A couple from Canada stopped and joined in the viewing of the wolves. They got out their binocs and camera. We chatted and shared my scope and stories as we watched the Druids.

This is the mating season for wolves and this was the first time I had seen them mate. We shall have some new pups this spring and it will be another interesting spring in Lamar Valley for watching wolves, wolf pups and bears along with all the other great wildlife in Yellowstone.

I was able to take a few pictures through my spotting scope with Carlene's digital camera. It was fun to try and get them in view and focus while looking into the sun. They are not the best pictures by any means, but they are Druid Wolves and fun none the less.

They were milling around and playing and mating. They were mostly playing and displaying mating behavior. Very interesting to watch and see the relationships in the pack. Not all that has been written on wolves in the text books is true about mating behavior. But, these wolves has just about disproved all wolf behavior books or theories.

There was one dark gray, two light grays and four blacks in this pack. The alpha male is a very large black wolf.

The wolves settled down on a bench just south of the road and east of the Lamar Ranger Station.

There were a group of coyotes loudly voicing their objections to the Druids being so close to their area. The Druids seemed to just ignore their small cousins.

There were bison to the east and west of the pack. A small group of bison started making their way east towards the wolves. The wolve who had been lying down got up and moved west towards the bison. At this point the bison stopped and went west a little ways and started grazing. The wolves move a short ways east and layed down.

There were elk south of the pack in the treeline and above on the hillside of Specimen Ridge.

The wolves were content to just relax on the bench. Not much activity after the playing and mating.

The sun went below Specimen Ridge and I figured it was time to head back home after a great afternoon of wolf watching with some new friends.

What a great day! Deer, antelope, bison, elk, coyotes, wolves, and loons. The only thing that would of made it complete was some bears... oh well, spring is coming and they will be out and about soon.