One of the great reasons to visit Yellowstone is the fact there are wild animals there. Yellowstone has undergone numerous changes since it’s inception. At one time, animals were so scare they had to be penned in the park. Bison were nearly hinted to extinction. Wolves, a pack animal were exterminated. Yellowstone bears were what my family calls “trash animals”, living off refuse and eating out of the hands of tourists. Occasionally, these bears would maul tourists when they were done feeding them … before the bears were done eating.
Park scientists figured out the animals needed to return to wild status. They resolved to ship garbage outside the park. The bears initially suffered due to their inability to hunt, but they eventually returned to wild animals. They also brought wolves back to the park, where they have thrived.
Bison are now relatively common in Yellowstone, Grand Teton and even outside the park.They are huge and cannot be ignored. If they are ignored, they simply stand in the road!
I’m excited to show some pictures of the animals we saw at Yellowstone. They aren’t my best pictures, but they are pretty good.
There are lots of Canadian geese in the park. From what I was told, these geese stay in the park year round due to the warm water.
American white pelicans have returned to the park because the fish they eat, the Yellowstone cutthroat trout, have also made a resurgence. This pelican did not want to be photographed; it cruised away nearly the second I whipped out my camera.
I like telling my wife my stork photos are really swans (which they are not). At Yellowstone, I took some real swan photos. There are trumpeter swans, the largest waterfowl native to North America.
I took the above shot in Lamar Valley. The pronghorn photos I took there are some of my greatest photos ever. I used my 600mm lens by hand at the furthest focal length ever. I think the pronghorn was over a mile away
Between Lake and Canyon, I had been trying to shoot pictures of what I believe to be a bald eagle when I looked down and saw this coyote hunting small animals in the tall grass. It’s a magnificent animal, blending in with the scenery.
We even saw horses when we visited Grand Teton. Grand Teton is a beautiful place, my friends. I do not have background on the horses, but they do have an owner. They are glorious animals.
