Watchin’ and Waitin’ — Phoenix Forties

One of the things we were most excited about was the guided wildlife tour we had booked. Being city dwellers, the animals of Yellowstone were the myths of Attenborough documentaries and we also knew that our own ability to spot anything at all was likely to be unsuccessful to the point of mistaking a rock for a wolf so we booked a day long adventure with In Our Nature guiding services. As with other private tours we booked during the holiday, the money so very very worth the experience and this one was extra special as not only was Cara a local, she is also a Marine biologist so we got a whole extra level of knowledge AND she has spent lots of time with Kiwis and Aussies so she got our humour as well which made for the best day.

Lamar Valley is the area of Yellowstone most associated with successful wildlife watching so our day was spent venturing along the road between Gardiner and Cooke City playing what my best friend and I used to call the Looking Game. We’d drive along the road and whenever we saw anything, it was a wild leap out of the car with the binoculars and if it looked interesting, Cara would get the super scopes out and we’d all stand on the side of the road peering down the scope speaking the language of the tourist: oooooooooo look at that!

The list of animals we got to see in their natural habitat was extensive: Bison, Elk, Moose, a hibernating Bear, Wolves (!!!), Coyotes, American dipper and Mountain Sheep. If we count the Fox in the carpark of the pub then we got the holy trinity of canine spotting - Coyote, Fox and Wolf. If was truly amazing getting to see all of these animals going about their winter routines and so much better than I ever dreamed it would be.

Everything was interesting and fascinating and we could have spent days, weeks and months doing more of the same. Instead of banging on about all the things, here are my favourite 3 things from our one days of wildlife immersion:

Yellowstone is the only place where Bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. However, at one point early in the 20th century, there were only 23 bison due to them almost being hunted to extinction in the 1800s mainly for their hides as well as the US Army hunting them as part of a campaign to remove Native American’s from the landscape by removing their main food source. With only 23 left in the the park by 1902, a ranch was set up in Lamar Valley and the remaining bison rounded up and guarded in captivity from further hunting and poaching. This herd of 23 slowly grew to about 1000 animals which were eventually returned to free roaming and the National Park Service maintained the herd about the 1000 level until 1969. With the removal of herd management through culling and relocation, Bison numbers are now sitting around 5000. The restoration of wild wolves to Yellowstone in the 90s further helped Bison.
The effect of the restoration of wild wolves is all encompassing and truly underscores how interdependent ecosystems are. Wolves hunt Elk as their main source of food and by doing so have reduced the Elk numbers thereby increasing the amount of vegetation available for other animals such as the Bison. With a predator now a regular feature of their lives, Elk now spend less time in the valleys which has meant willow brush is thriving which is a key food source for Moose who are now starting to be seen in the park more regularly, and Willow Trees are also growing again which has meant Beaver dams are back in production.
Bison have the best insulation - their coat is so effective at insulating their body heat that snow will settle on their coats and not melt. The only area of their body that has any type of external thermal signature is a very small area around their gut. In Canada, they tried counting the size of their Bison herd with thermal cameras attached to planes which was not successful at all due to the lack of almost any thermal signature.