Wolf Watching

As well as Nathan and Linda our group also included Jan Fennell and Dog Listeners not only from the UK and Ireland but also the USA, New Zealand and Belgium. We then had fairly lengthy drive to Gardiner Montana our first base of operations. The weather was cold and the snow deep but we were well equipped and so able to deal with it. The evening of the first day ended with an evening meal and presentation at the Animal Track Education Centre, a place we would come to know well.

The following (and every other) morning we were up, dressed and out in the car park before 0600 to await the arrival of Nathan and Linda. They arrived punctually as always and straight away started dispensing coffee, hot chocolate (my favourite) and breakfast such as hot Danish pastries and other decadent nibbles. It was great! Every morning breakfast was different but always good.

After breakfast it was into the vehicles and off to the Northern Range where we spent a lot of our time in the first phase of the trip in and around Lamar Valley and Slough Creek. we hadn’t been on the road long when a lone black wolf popped out onto the road in front of us and disappeared up the bank opposite. It wasn’t a well animal and was thought to be a survivor of a pack that had been decimated. Very sad and our hearts went out to her but nature in the raw is a hard taskmaster. We were to see this wolf several times during our stay and she seemed to be holding on, no mean feat for a young animal without the support of a pack.

Every morning we would get to our observation points and the spotting scopes would go up and as always, guided by Nathan and Linda almost at once we would start seeing wolves. I’ve spoken to people who’ve been wolf spotting and seen virtually nothing. Everyday we saw something tremendous. We saw three of the major packs in Yellowstone, the Druid Peak pack, the Slough Creek pack (a lot of history between those two) and the seldom seen Leopold pack as well as several unknown wolves. We witnessed the Alphas of the Druids mating, one of the ‘unknowns’ trying to seduce and lure away at least one of the Druid daughters to start a new pack. We saw wolves at a kill being ‘mugged’ by ravens. There were just so many behaviours on show. Play, courtship, mating, discipline, relaxation, guarding and parenting. Each of these behaviours invaluable to us in our work with ‘canis familiaris’ the domestic dog. Throughout the day we would eat a variety of things standing in the snow. Cold meats, cheese, peanut butter maybe some soup. You would think that we would suffer from the cold but we didn’t.

Perhaps the hardest physical part of the trip was an uphill snowshoe trek to see an abandoned wolf den. To say that using snowshoes requires a little skill and co-ordination would be an understatement. We made it after much falling over and giggling but of course we had to get back and now we were tired and heading downhill in thin air which makes breating difficult. I really hated gravity that day.

We would watch wolves until it got too dark and then it was back for a freshen up and then to the education centre and the one hot meal of the day while enjoying some tremendous presentations from some of the major names in wolf research. people like Jim Halfpenny, Daniel Stahler, Bob Landis, film maker, who has won an Emmy for his films on Yellowstone wolves. He showed us, as yet unshown footage for his next film. we were entertained one lunchtime at the home of Dan Hartman naturalist and wildlife photographer. The beauty of where Dan lives is just amazing. This is a word that was used a lot by our group, so much so that it was banned. It cost anyone saying amazing in any context a bottle of wine. It was at Dan’s house that I took a picture of a Pine Marten of which I’m quite proud.

Although the object of the trip was to research wolves and that’s what we did on most days from morning ’til night we also saw a host of other wildlife and their behaviours such as coyotes, also a fascinating animal one of whom came very close to me in the field. He was wearing a radio collar so that he could be tracked. We also saw Bison, the most dangerous animals in the park, Elk, Pronghorns and all manner of birds including Bald Eagles that I felt a certain affinity with. We did not see any bears in the wild as they were hibernating although we did see several in a rescue centre that had been orphaned.

For the second part of the trip we were based in the town of West Yellowstone a bit more modern than Gardiner which gave us access to other areas of the park and its wildlife. It was from here that we had a tracked ‘snow coach’ to visit the area around ‘Old Faithful’. The trip was eventful from the start when we waited in vain for the coach. Several phone calls and another wait later it turned up. Its appearance didn’t fill me with confidence as we were travelling a fair distance into a hostile environment where mobile phones didn’t work. We set off and the vehicle didn’t sound or feel right. As the morale officer I was saying things like “we’re going to break down”. or “I can smell burning”. Unusually I was right, because it was at this point that the vehicle filled with smoke and steam and we came to a halt. Luckily the vehicle was fitted with a radio and a replacement vehicle was brought out to us. This was much newer and more comfortable so we continued our journey. we visited ‘Old Faithful’ and saw it blow, this was probably the only part of the whole trip that didn’t impress me. It was OK but I was expecting something earthshaking but it just went ‘phut, phut………phut, phut, phut’ and then a mild ‘whoosh’ and it was all over. It’s only well known because of its regularity. Some of the other geysers, and there are many, I found much more interesting because you just never know, if…..or when? Particularly when I found that some of the geysers we were looking at featured in a book I’d bought about ‘Death in Yellowstone’ one of the two most bought books in the
park. I also bought a copy of the second most popular for my grandson, James. It is the delightfully titled ‘Who Pooped in the Park?’

This final part of our trip gave us some time in the evenings and we were able to discover a local restaurant and bar by the name of ‘Bullwinkles’ where we had some good times. the locals wherever we went were really friendly but at Bullwinkles after having had a whole cow on your plate we were able to relax and mingle with the locals over a glass of the local beer ‘Moose Drool’ or, for the ladies, a glass of wine from the local label ‘Three Blind Moose’ I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “it does what it says on the label”?

At the end of our stay we all agreed that we’d had a wonderful time and that we would return, it was a fabulous experience. Although I’m not allowed to say amazing, I will say that I now know why Americans say ‘Awesome’ so much, because it is.