Wildlife in Yellowstone

Driving the park roads in Yellowstone is like safari. You always have to be prepared to stop and pull over because there is some wildlife to see. And the bigger the traffic jam, the more spectacular the sighting… ;-). Alright, I took just so many pictures of the fascinating wildlife – here we go:

Bison
The first animal you see for sure here is Bison. They are everywhere: walking on the road, grazing between the tents in the campground, running in the prairie, …

Elk
Elk are a little harder to spot, but I’ve seen them on walks with Eyra on the campground and on a couple of spots while driving in the park.

Moose
They just look kind of funny. And I only spotted them while driving the Moose-Wilson Road in Grand Teton National Park (which is just south of Yellowstone).

Marmot
I’ve spotted one on my hike to Mount Washburn and another one was crossing the street when I was out for bears…

Bighorn Sheep
I have seen a lot of those sheep while hiking the Mount Washburn (see here). They crossed the hiking trail just in front of me… wow!

Juvenile Bald Eagle
While hunting for Grizzly I found this beautiful proud bird near Lake Butte in the eastern part of the Park.

Black Bears
I had to be a little patient to finally see them. I carried bear spray for so long – and finally I saw some: a mother with one pup near the Midway Geyser Basin, and near Tower-Roosevelt a sleeping bear, a mother with two pups and a single bear with brown fur!

Grizzly and Wolf
They have been actually too far away to see them with your bare eyes… it was even too far away for my 270 mm lens or my binoculars. But I could spot them with a park ranger’s telescope. Some Grizzlies and Wolfs where fighting over a bison carcass! And I made a crappy picture of someone’s iPhone screen that was connected to a “digiscope”…

…and many more

…and if you want to see some moving pictures: here we go: