A park and hiking tour in Yellowstone. When one thinks of Yellowstone, thoughts might wander to geysers like Old Faithful, hot springs, fumaroles, bubbling mud pots and wildlife. For the past three days my time was devoted to viewing wildlife and hiking in Yellowstone National Park. The south entrance just opened on the 10th of May, and I took the opportunity to go on a scouting mission for my wildlife eco tours. I loaded up my binoculars and spotting scopes and north I went. With one mission, spending time and touring through the Lamar Valley. This in one place in the lower 48 where wolves and grizzly bears are quite visible and common, if you know where to look that is. From years past I had a good idea, but knowledge in the field in priceless. As I dried myself off from swimming in the Boiling River Hot Springs I wondered just what I would see and learn in the world’s first national park. 
It was approaching sunset and I knew the time was right. I headed straight for a wolf den site that I remembered from last year. I got sidetracked by a huge grizzly grazing 200 yards off the road. In this area the snow has just recently melted leaving patches of grass here and there. Food is not all that abundant for the large bears this time of year. When bears come out of hibernation they have burnt off their fat reserves and are hungry. The problem is that sometimes food can be hard to come by.. There is a rough progression of food items that grizzlies consume through the year. After waking, the available food happens to be winter killed ungulates ie. hoofed mammals. The snow and winter temperatures preserves these carcasses, and the bears and other scavengers get a 5 star dinner as the carcasses thaw. As spring and summer progresses, vegetation grows and bears turn to these grasses, wildflowers, and roots for food. In some places a bears diet might consist of over 80% vegetation. For the most part bears are opportunist feeders and will munch on what’s available. Starting with the bison, as we are seeing now, the young of the season are being born and are a relativity easy meal for the large carnivores. Elk and moose will give birth in the next few weeks. In the Lamar Valley the grizzly bears take advantage of the wolves and will push the wolves off a kill they had made. On a short hike I found a carcass which appeared to be an unlucky elk that didn’t make it through the winter. Most of the large bones were broken in half.. A sure sign of wolves.. With a biting jaw that can exert up to 1500 pounds of pressure per square inch it takes no time to snap large bones to reach the rich protein and fatty marrow inside. Summer for the grizzlies means eating small mammals that they can dig up, tearing through rotten logs to find insects, and feeding on any other food that might be available. So this means as you go hiking through the park don’t leave any food unattended. Something as small as a moth is also an important food source for the bears. The army cutworm moth being up to two inches wide, migrates from the great plains in the summer to the mountainous Rockies in search of cooler temps and the nectar that is produce by our array of wildflowers. They feed at night and then retire to the cool shade under the small rocks. This is where the bears will uncover them and eat 10,000-40,000 in a day, all this happening at elevations greater than 10,000 feet. WoW, Who would of known. 
The fall is the all important time for the grizzled beasts. 80% of all the calories that these bears burn through the year come from the whitebark pine tree, more specifically the nut that the tree produces. What so scary here is that this tree is declining fast.. The whitebark pine blister rust, the pine beetle, and the warming temperatures are all to blame. With only 500-600 grizzly bears in the 18 million acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem we can’t spare to lose any.
Turner, Jack. Travels In The Greater Yellowstone. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008
Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
