Trail Log 1995-1997 - Lamar at Colorado State University

The trucks came by with mules and with carcasses to feed the wolves in the pens. We went back
to Lamar and watched them hook up the sled and go up to feed the new wolves in the Rose Creek
pens. The mule sled took about four hours to go in and back. Snowing hard.
Lunch.
We had a scanner for the park service frequencies. I listened while I finished reading L. David
Mech's book, The Wolf. The road from Mammoth to Cooke City is temporarily closed; the snow
plow is working it under white out conditions.
30,000 people came to Lamar Valley trying to see the wolves last summer. Some wolves were
seen for 43 consecutive days.
KOWA is the good spotting scope the Institute has. 27 power.
The best time to see grizzlies is late May, early June in Lamar Valley, better than Hayden Valley,
though there are some there too. Try the Wildlife Observation Class, May 28-31, and then stay on
for Michael Bartley's class, Backpacking in Grizzly Country, or Grizzly Bear Ecology and
Management, June 7-10.
The road was opened again about 5.00 to let Cooke City People pass through.
We went out again and met Jim and Diann watching bison and an elk carcass with five coyotes on
it, to the north of the road below Slough Creek. Two of the coyotes had a fight, and various others
were driving each other off the carcass. Back to the ranch, and the evening there, with good
discussion of wilderness.
Wednesday, March 6. There was a good full moon as I got up. Clear and cold, -1.3 o Fahrenheit.
Jim and Diann and Bob went separately, and in a few minutes I drove down in the Jeep to the
carcass of the night before. Three coyotes on it, but no wolves. No wolf activity.
We drove up to Soda Butte, and, not long after I arrived, I saw the Crystal Bench Pack for a couple
minutes, two blacks and one grey. There are only three in this pack. They came out of the woods
and across into another patch of woods, and never came out. Jim, Nathan, Dan, were up on the
hill and claimed they could barely see where they had laid down, and saw them get up and move
around once or twice. Waited till noon, but no movement.
Returned to the ranch and packed up to leave. Back to Soda Butte, but no movement. I climbed
the hill, somewhat awkwardly with the spotting scope, but could see nothing. The spotting plane
flew over and circled over where we know the three wolves in the pack were.
I left to head out. There were 7 coyotes on the carcass below Slough Creek. Two were in a
copulatory tie; I watched them tied for about 20 minutes. Then they broke loose; the male dragged
his rear in the snow some after that. He tried to mount the female again, but to no avail.
About 75 bison on the drive out. 50 elk.
A coyote digging in the snow not far from the road.
Another coyote walked right past the Jeep.