Middle Grey and the Hunt In honor of Wolf Week, another story about a wild wolf in Yellowstone For some reason my thoughts today, during a very slow time in Yellowstone, were on Middle Grey. I miss this wolf more than I thought possible and think about her quite often. I have a fantasy that she and her black pup were two wolves that were seen in an undisclosed location over the summer. My heart tells me that she will show up one day, but as it is we have not had a confirmed sighting of Middle Grey for a year now, when Doug M saw her at Footbridge during the shut down of the park. Given how much time I spend in the park it is amazing that I have seen very little hunting action. To tell the truth I am not sure that I have the stomach for the kill, even though it is nature and the way things work. I looked at a chicken at the grocers tonight and suddenly wanted to know how I could eat something that once breathed. I do so because that is the way the world was made and while I have choices, I think that the making of this universe was the most masterful plan there ever was and that there are no mistakes. And, so wolves killing elk is the way it is supposed to be, right along with man killing elk. But, there was a day when some friends came to town and the park was very quiet. I was nervous about what I would show my friends, never dreaming that all of us would get the show of a lifetime. We were driving past the Confluence when I noticed a rock in the road. I stopped, got out of my car and looked up to find the elk yearling on the edge of the rocks. At first it was just quite a sight to see him there and then I realized that he was in danger. I had been watching this yearling for quite some time, about three weeks, after it lost its mom and tried to take up with a grouchy bison bull. Quite frankly, I expected this guy to lose its life much earlier but it was still around. Suddenly, the elk took off like a shot. We were parked in the road, standing in the road, when the elk ran across and into the Lamar River, quickly followed by Middle Grey. We did not even know that Middle Grey was around as they valley had been empty of wolves for quite some time. She had returned to her home, by herself, to have her own pups in her mothers den site. We parked, grabbed camera and went to watch the wolf hunt the elk. This was the most fascinating animal behavior I have ever seen, even though the periods of hunting were short, compared to the long naps in between. We had been watching for hours, with a relatively small crowd around us, before Rick came by to see what was happening. He was none too happy to see us so close but we were not disturbing a thing and the rangers had been checking on us. The elk watched us a lot but the wolf barely glanced at us. It rained, snowed and everything else weather can do, and I stayed to watch. About four hours into it, during a lull in the action, we were talking and laughing because that is what humans do when coping with intense things. Some other photographers got very angry at us for our joking around because this was no joke to them. Of course, an elk being killed was no joke - it certainly is not something that we wanted to see happen. Most of the time we were for the elk because it fought so hard, but we wanted the mother-to-be to have a meal. Middle Grey came close during the day, to taking down the elk but she was not yet very experienced in hunting by herself and so we left that night while the elk was still alive. In the morning there was a carcass next to the road with a coyote feeding on it. Later, Middle Grey rested about 200 yards from the carcass while a coyote barked at her and nipped her, which was more amazing wildlife action. Originally, when I posted the image of Middle in the water with her jaws on the elks neck, people were angry that I posted such a thing and told me that they did not have to put up with that. They were right, they didnt and were free to leave. Unfortunately, I never posted another image of that day, thus falling down on my commitment to always show the truth about the wild in Yellowstone. Middle Grey, where ever you are, you are in my thoughts and I do miss you so. Be sure and see the post below, more facts about wolves.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 02:59:47 +0000
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