Yellowstone Wolf and Elk Adventure

      Last week we left the heat of the desert to travel to Yellowstone National Park. Our 40th Anniversary was in August, and we wanted to celebrate by visiting Yellowstone. We had gone to Glacier National Park ten years ago--our first trip West. Since that time we had been farther north into Canadian Parks, Banff and Jasper, but we had never been to Yellowstone.

      We were on the hunt for wolves.  After years of hard work by scientists, political activists, and animal-lovers, they were returned to Yellowstone in 1995.   I had been one of the thousands of animal lovers who had written letters to politicians to try to save and return the wolves.  I had joined groups and seen and petted a captive wolf named Jethro.  Even made the family go on a wolf howl in Ohio. (No wolves, of course.  Just a tape player and dedicated, or crazy, wolf-lovers!) 

 Finally I was going to get to see wild wolves.

     We traveled with The Wild Side,a wildlife tour company operated by two biologists, Nathan Varley and Linda Thurston.

http://www.wolftracker.com/  

      The Adventure Bus took us to Lamar Valley, Hayden Valley, and other great sites in the Park.  At night we stayed at a variety of neat places: cabins, Yellowstone Lodge, and Chico Hot Springs.

     Our first night was spent in Mammoth Hot Springs.  The elk that live here are smart.  No wolves for miles.  The herd enjoys the safety of the lawn as well as the grass. They also keep the park rangers occupied with trying to keep the tourists a safe distance away. It´s fun to watch.

     We spent the first day getting into the Park, watching the elk, and meeting each other. There were ten adventurers on the trip--from California, Boston, Pittsburg, Maryland, and Arizona (us).   One young couple came all the way from Oxford, England, making our trip an International Wolf and Elk Adventure!  

     A variety of occupations were represented, including retirees, paramedic, computer expert, business executive, soldier, nurse, and public defender (me). The thing we had in common was our love of wolves.  We were all excited about seeing them.  

But first we had to get past the bison.

     Even though I came to look for wolves, the bison were amazingly interesting. I had seen them before, but never so many and in their own environment. They own the Park, and they know it.  The wolves are the heart of Yellowstone, but the Bison rule.

     But we were determined to see wolves, and soon we would. Early in the morning we were going to Lamar Valley...

 
The view from the patio of JB´s Restaurant,
where we bicycled for breakfast this morning.

One of the ducks was fishing for his breakfast.

And he quickly caught a big one!

 

Spock has returned! After his fine adventure, he was returned by one of my friend´s neighbors. He seems fit and happy, and now he has 2 roommates. This latter situation is only temporary, but at the moment Spock seems to be enjoying his new friends.

Spock is still missing. He was seen by a few of my friend´s neighbors, which is a good sign. We went again tonight to look around the path he has apparently been taking, but we didn´t find him.

To my surprise, we found a different Desert Tortoise. At first I thought it was Spock, but when I got close to him I realized he was much smaller. He was obviously injured, too. His shell is not smooth and pretty like Spock´s, and there was a piece missing. Looked suspiciously like a coyote bite to me, and I love coyotes.

Even more amazing, someone brought my friend her missing tortoise, only it wasn´t Spock. This was an entirely different tortoise that was found walking on the golf course, very close to the street.

I never would have thought Sun City Grand would have three tortoises wandering around. Of course the real number may be much higher. The good news is that we didn´t see any signs that Spock had been hurt. So we will have to keep looking.

My friend adopted a Desert Tortoise earlier this Spring.  A teenage male that she named Spock.   This is his picture on the day she brought him home.  

A lot of care and thought had gone into his adoption.  She had attended classes, submitted plans of his enclosure, and did other things that are required in order to get approved to  adopt this threatened species.   All summer she has diligently cared for him -- planted a variety of his favorite plants and hand-selected the best Yellow Bell blossoms, strawberry tops, and apple slices for him. 

But yesterday morning, the little guy went missing.  He was there the night before, but was gone when she went out at 6 AM.    So far we don´t know if he managed to escape his enclosure or whether he was taken.    Desert Tortoises fall victim to predators, such as coyotes, but he seemed too large for a coyote to carry off.   It seems unlikely that someone would steal him, but that is a possibility.  

So in the morning we are going to walk around her neighborhood and look for him.  For any of you who have had a pet, you know how they become part of your family.   She misses him terribly, and is worried about his safety.   ´

All we can do is look for him, and hope for a happy ending.

 
 

     It´s raining!  Now that may not seem like a reason to celebrate most places, but here in the desert it is.  We have only had about 6 rains this summer, counting this little shower.   Even for the desert, we are dry.  
     We had been at the pool for a couple of hours, floating around, unwinding with all of the other retired and semi-retired.  (I fit into the latter category, and my husband is in the first.)  While we cooled off,   we cloud-watched and speculated about whether or not there was going to be any rain in the cumulous that were building.   Most of the time the clouds move off or break up without dropping any of the precious water here.  
      But not today.   For a few, brief minutes (it is over already), it rained.   Enough to wet the sidewalk--and the interior of my husband´s car before the windows got rolled up.   Maybe there was enough to give the cactus a drink of water.
      There may be a rainbow, too.  We have some spectacular ones, and I´m going to go look.
     

September 12, 2009 - I´ve been thinking about blogging for some time now, and finally decided to give it a try. The layout isn´t what I had hoped for, but it is a beginning.

We´re all looking forward to the end of summer here in the desert. There have been brief periods of cooler (a relative term here) weather. This morning Kent and I bicycled to breakfast--the first time we have done that in months.

And last night we sat on the back porch for a while and watched the lightening. It never rained here, but there may have been some rain in the east. Or maybe not. That´s the way it is in the desert.

While we were watching the sky, a Great Horned Owl swooped down and landed on top of our street light. Kent saw him land. But once he was on top of the light, all we could see was a shadow, and we couldn´t see that very well. The light from the pole blinded our view. After a while, we heard another owl hooting in the distance. Soon our visitor answered!