Yellowstone- Wildlife Count (07-10-12)

I counted the wildlife for my own purposes, and I was surprised at how much  we actually saw.  Of course, being in Yellowstone for three weeks contributed to the high number, partly because we learned how and where to go to watch them.  Even with these numbers, there were many times we could have stopped to see a bear of a herd of elk but didn’t because of the crowds. The longer we stayed here, the more I felt that we were being given a unique opportunity to see these animals on their own “turf”. They were all just living their lives, trying to ignore the humans that keep encroaching on their territory. For the first week, every time we saw a “new” animal, I got really surprised, excited, and anxious to get a good view.  Later on, I got just as excited, but in a much quieter way.  It’s hard to describe.  I guess I was no longer surprised to see the animals, because I know now that they just live here, but I was happy every time their daily routine brought them close enough to me that I could observe them.
Anyway, each number represents how many times we saw each type of animal.  Sometimes it may have been the same animal on a different day (who knows?)…
Wildlife watching could be addictive, except that there aren’t many other places in this country that we can see this many animals:
Bison- too many to count
Bull Elk-lone- 4
Elk herd with calves- 16-18
Big horn sheep-1
Osprey- 1
herd of wild goats-1
moose-1
moose calf-1
Grizzly bears- 3
Grizzly cubs-1 (there were two at the same time-2nd year cubs- bear cubs stay with their mom for 2 summers)
Black bears-5-6
black bear cubs-3 (there were two cubs each time) black bear sows can have 1-3 cubs at the same time, and all can have different fathers.
howling of a wolf pack-3 (the second time we heard it was just as awesome as the first time)
howling of a coyote pack-1 (difference between wolf and coyote howl- wolf is lower tone, pure howl, coyote is higher pitched with yelping mixed in)
wolves-3
wolf- Alpha female with pups-2(needed a scope to see them, I took someone’s word for it that the blobs of fur were pups)
wolf pack (Canyon Pack) -2
coyotes-4-5
Snowshoe Hare-2
Grouse-1
Pronghorn- 7-9 small groups or single animals
fox-1
Bald Eagle 3-4
Mule deer-1
fawn-3 (the third one was alone and actually could have been a tiny elk- after seeing it, we asked a ranger and both elk and deer leave their young alone in a field with “instructions” not to move- they have very little scent to them so predators pass them by.)
Sand Hill Crane-2

Grizzly and two cubs

Grizzly

black bear