Yellowstone National Park 2024 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
25 through 28 March 2024
Yellowstone National Park
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
~ March 2024 ~
March 25th - Monday
I left Idaho Falls, Idaho before 7:00 a.m. and made pretty good time arriving in Gardiner, Montana after 280 miles before noon. Hundreds and hundreds of elk south of Ennis, Montana with some mule deer and pronghorn antelope. Hundreds of elk and some pronghorn antelope and mule deer in Paradise Valley north of Gardiner. Around 3:00 p.m. the wolf watchers had four wolves mainly bedded in Crystal Creek Drainage south of the Slough Creek Restroom. I only saw three of the four, one collared gray, one uncollared gray and a collared black wolf. Still not sure if they were Junction Butte wolves or Mollies wolves; I think they were Mollies wolves.
March 26th - Tuesday
26 degrees at Gardiner this morning but only 18 degrees on Blacktail this morning warming up to 38 degrees but a cold wind in the afternoon. People have been seeing a northern pygmy owl for the last week or two in the Lamar Canyon. I finally saw one of the two this morning. I had my first mountain bluebird this afternoon. I had a THREE DOG DAY (fox, coyote, wolf) today. At 8:00 a.m. the wolves were back in Crystal Drainage. Others had three or four wolves, but I only had one black and one gray wolf.
March 27th - Wednesday
26 degrees in Gardiner but only 20 degrees on Blacktail this morning warming up to 35 degrees but with a cold wind in the afternoon. Lots of coyotes around the park this morning. At 8:00 a.m. Joe K showed me a collared black wolf back in Crystal Drainage. Grant J had a collared gray wolf earlier and Sian J had an uncollared gray pup later in the morning. The wolf project is monitoring the Rescue Creek Wolf Pack this spring in addition to their winter study. At 8:00 a.m. they had the Rescues in view south of Floating Island Pond on a fresh elk carcass. I arrived later and only saw one gray near the carcass. Lots of coyotes around the carcass when the wolves left. We watched a golden eagle for a long time on the carcass then a bald eagle arrived and after a minute fight the golden eagle flew off. Around 11:00 a.m. the wolf project moved to the Petrified Tree Pullout and found several bedded wolves higher away from the carcass, my count was two blacks and one gray. Around 1:00 p.m. three black and three gray wolves returned for a long time to feed on the carcass again. The pack has fourteen or fifteen wolves currently in the pack.
March 28th - Thursday
40 degrees this morning in Gardiner but 30 degrees on the Blacktail this morning and it did not warm up past 35 degrees. Today the weather was unsettled with most of the afternoon snow showers making seeing wildlife difficult. At 8:00 a.m. others found a black wolf howling in Crystal Drainage. Actually, we heard two howls, but only saw the one black wolf.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Doug M, Michael S, Quinn H, Taylor R, Jeremy S, and Joe K. From Wales in the UK: Sian J. From Wisconsin: Beth P. From North Dakota: Sandy H. From Canada: Jeff A. And from Arizona: Steve J. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Wyoming: Kevin M. And From Montana: Doug M, Linda K, and Jack G. Others seen this report: From Montana: Hunter G, Cliff B, Sandy K and Duffy P, Matt D, Nate U, Dan and Cindy H, Grant J, George B, Bob L, and Emil M. From Idaho: Ray L and Kathy.
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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