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Wolf Wild

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Some years ago, well ten to be exact, the Hayden pack had killed an elk along Alum creek. This was before the authorities began removing carcasses from being viewed from the road as a form of crowd management. If too many people stopped and watched the pack feeding on the carcass then there were traffic jams, crowd buildups, and rangers had to be sent to the scene for crowd control. So they began hauling away the carcasses to be dumped somewhere out of sight. Another opportunity to observe animals in their natural environment doing what animal do was lost. But money was saved and they could lay off some of the rangers so the balance sheet looked good.

Those were simpler days, before budget cuts and the natural fun aspect of the park was lost. When the rangers were more like teachers and helpers and founts of knowledge about the park and its residents, than like policemen who were more concerned with citations and keeping a tight control over the citizenry. Sometimes back then, to everyone’s surprise, folks chanced across a kill and could watch the natural course of events unfold in a civilized manner and no rangers were needed to police the area. It was a visual participation where you felt as if you were part of the activity. A respect was granted to the animals involved and to the other observers. No one ran up to be closer to the action. There wasn’t any interference with the wolves feedings, they basically ignored you. You just reveled in being part of the scene unfolding before you feeling like you were very fortunate to be able to witness nature at work.

This was the dominant female of the Hayden pack back then. We watched her walk along the ridge line, drop down into the valley where Alum creek flowed into the Yellowstone and approach the carcass along the creek side. Before long another young female approached and with submissive behavior politely asked if she could join the grand dame in her feeding. The pack leader graciously allowed her to and the two worked at reducing the nearly consumed carcass down to nothing but hide and a few bones.

This wolf is not with us any more, she  was apparently struck by a car and killed sometime later. But she lives on in the memories and photos of those who were lucky enough to have been in her presence for a brief while. The simpler days are missed. It isn’t often today that you get to witness the wolf wild and up close.

Pancho And Lefty – Standoff At Cascade Creek

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As the tale goes the Cascade Creek pack had killed a cow elk a couple of days ago. The carcass lay upon a gentle rise out in the meadow about 150 yards away from the highway. It had been worked over pretty good by the pack, plus a grizzly that came in and stripped a lot of the big bones that were still heavy with meat during the night. A four hundred pound elk doesn’t go very far when the big boys start feeding.

Soon the carcass had flattened out so that it was barely visible above the snow it lay upon. It looked as If there wouldn’t’ be anything left for the pack when they came back to feed later in the day. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t still sustenance to be had. There was marrow in the smaller bones that hadn’t been carried off yet. The hide could be licked and chewed on for the blood. There were still parts left to eat.

Pancho and Lefty were the first to arrive. As young bucks in the pack they were always hungry and wanted to get in there and get what they could before the Alpha and his mate showed up. There wouldn’t be much chance to eat once he arrived, he’d decide who ate and when, or even if, and his mate wasn’t any easier to get along with.

As luck would have it the Raven Clan had moved in and assumed control of the kill. They were pretty amped up as they had just driven a Golden Eagle off the carcass and they weren’t about to give up their prize without a battle.

However, impotence cures in such a situation can be administered to determine if the man has decreased DHEA levels. free samples of cialis Also known as wolfberry, goji berries tend to be reddish in color and are viagra buy no prescription respitecaresa.org a bit elongated. I do an extensive exam to determine the root of the amaranth and cheap viagra chafed it in a great and sanitary location. Male redundant prepuce is too long or tight underwear excessively stimulate the side effects of viagra glans penis can cause the premature ejaculation. At first glance you would believe that it would be a pretty unequal fight, what with the wolves being 100 lbs plus and the ravens weighing about three, three and a half tops, but size can fool you. Sure the wolves had pulled down a four hundred pound cow with very little trouble and they could easily snap a raven in two with those powerful jaws, but first they had to catch them. And the ravens had one point in their favor. Wolves cannot fly.

The ravens also had those long pointed beaks. They could peck at a massive bone until they cracked it to get at the marrow inside. It would not be too troublesome to take out a wolf’s eye if it came to that. So there you have it. The wolves surveyed the situation deciding on how much energy they wanted to spend evicting the squatters and the ravens knew that if they were tenacious enough they could pester the wolves into leaving. It was the standoff at the Cascade Creek kill.

Finally the wolves decided that there was enough left on the carcass that it would be worth the battle. They charged into the flock repeatedly, the ravens would lift up just out of muzzle range and settle back just as quickly once the wolf went after another bird. It looked like they could do this all day, but the wolves being wolves were still hungry and they didn’t let up. Finally the Ravens called a truce and moved back out of lunging range, content with nipping in and stealing little morsels that were dropped by the wolves. The wolves tolerated this until the Raven would get too confidant, then they would make short lunges to run it off.

The one-sided battle went on for several hours until the wolves had eaten their fill and wandered off to find a resting place to settle in and sleep off their meal. The Ravens knowing this would happen moved back in on the carcass and went to work. This was just a battle, the war would go on for as long as there were wolves and ravens. Right now it was mostly a draw.

Pancho and Lefty were lucky. They had the kill to themselves for much longer than usual and they did not waste the opportunity. They ate as much and as quickly as they could. The Alpha and the rest of the pack had slept in and didn’t get there until much later in the day. By then most of the drama was over. The carcass was just about picked clean and it was another day in Yellowstone.

Wolf Pack

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I don’t know how many of you have ever seen a wolf pack up close other than scenes from TV or a movie, but it is an entirely different experience in person. Wild things look at you differently, they treat you differently, and unless you are an overt threat they don’t seem to care that you are a human. They are willing to co-exist with you as long as there is mutual respect. This pack is known as the Blacktail Flats pack as it includes the Blacktail flats area in the northern part of Yellowstone National park in it’s hunting range. The pack was fortunate to come across a buffalo carcass near one of the many ponds that are in the area and spent several days taking full advantage of this large meal. This photo shoot took place about 75 yards across a small pond on what turned out to be the last day they were there. That was because there wasn’t anything left to eat when they left late that evening. This grey kept a close watch as it came down for a drink.

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Since this pack had been feeding on this carcass for several days, they came and went as they felt like it. Occasionally most of the pack would be there and sometimes just one of them.

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The carcass is being whittled down by the constant feeding. They eat everything, from bits of the hide to breaking the bones open for marrow.

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Sometime the younger wolves need to be shown who the bull duck in the pond is. This is usually a short lesson.

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When they get down to the point where there is nothing left but the big main bones in the carcass it takes a little cooperation to get them separated. With both wolves pulling from opposite directions something finally gives and somebody gets a nice big juicy leg bone. That seems to be the end of the cooperative spirit as they don’t share well at that point.

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They have been eating a lot, almost non-stop, so every so often they take a break and go goof off. Its time to run, roll in the grass, teach the young to behave themselves and just generally work off some of that buffalo.

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Even when everyone else can not eat one more bite there is always one who can fit in a little more. After all they don’t know when the next meal is coming so one more bite can’t hurt.

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OK, enough fooling around, there is still some buffalo left so this job’s not done.

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The carcass is almost gone. You can see by their stomachs that they have been giving this their all. There were five wolves at the most on this kill during this shoot. There were more wolves in the pack but since all this was taking place in about two hours the entire pack wasn’t there. Supposedly there were anywhere from seven to as many as twelve wolves in this pack.

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It is very nearly done now. Some of the more experienced members of the pack are taking away pieces of the buffalo for eating later. All that remains is the hide and horns and blood stains in the grass.

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Starting from a fairly respectable amount of buffalo when the shoot first started there is little left. Some of the younger wolves will come back over the next day or so to glean what ever small parts were dropped and lick the grass. Hopefully the ravens and other scavengers will have missed some.

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The last wolf leaves with one more small meal and the feeding is over. It now a little past 8:00pm and very nearly dark, in fact we needed flashlights to get back to the cars. The originals of these images are very, very dark, so much so that without the miracle of Photoshop you would have a hard time making out any detail at all. The experience of sharing a meal (so to speak) with these wolves has been a once in a lifetime opportunity and simply incredible.