Big Horn Sheep Defy Gravity; Coyote or Wolf ?

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Geo: 44.7338, -110.49

Got up early and went to look for wildlife and find a campsite for the evening. We decided to head over to the Lamar Valley and see if we could find any of the wolves over there. There is still construction going on as you head down from Dunraven Pass and over Mount Washburn to the Tower Junction. There was construction going on last year when we were here and this time they have the road closed from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00a.m daily which means we cannot get through until 7:00a.m. but that is the way things are and makes you plan where you will camp for the evening based on where you want to go the next day. If you are early, there is not a line but later in the day it is usually a 20 to 30 minute wait.

We got to the area where the road was closed and we were first in line and got a real treat. One of the employees from the Tower visitor center/giftshop/snack bar came out and told us there were some bighorn sheep up on the ledge right at the beginning of the construction area!
Because there was not a line behind us we were able to enjoy watching these wonderful animals clinging to the side of the hill. It is incredible how agile they are and how graceful they are as they climb up and down the hillside, literally clinging to the hill. They were dislodging rocks so we had to be careful none of the rocks came tumbling down! Great start to the day!

From there we went and checked in Lamar Valley for the wolves. Things were quiet when we arrived but there had been a sighting near the Hitching Post. Unfortunately over the past year, two of the iconic wolves, 754 and 06(832) had been killed when they went out of the park on one of their rare forays out. This is very sad for us wolf watchers and it has effectively broken up the Lamar Canyon pack which was one of the most viewed packs in the park.

From there we traveled back over Dunraven Pass to the other side toward Grizzly Overlook to see what was happening there. It was fairly quiet from the wolf watching viewpoint but the other wildlife was great! There was a grizzly off in the distance browsing around. A coyote came up near the river and caused a little excitement because some of the people watching for the wolf thought they had a wolf but it was a coyote heading down the river. It is not uncommon for people to mistake coyotes for wolves. There are some distinct differences between the two but you can still be mistaken.

Coyotes tend to be smaller then the wolf--even more petite looking you might say. The coyote has very pointed ears and the wolves are usually more rounded and the wolf tends to have a more bulky appearance. Colors do not always indicate but rarely is the coyote any color but what I would call golden. They say the wolf runs with its tail out when hunting and the coyote hunts with tail down. Also the coyote tends to pounce on its prey like a cat would.

We also got to see five beautiful bull elk come down from the hills and cross the field and head for the river. They were alert but none of the wolves came out to check out the elks that we could see.

There were also some sandhill cranes in the field feeding that were being harrassed by a harrier which was interesting to observe.

At one point we looked up and there were more elk sitting up on the hill looking down at all the people looking for wolves. You can wonder it they really were paying up any attention!

At one point 712, the alpha male came out and headed back over to the hill out for a hunt we presumed. So we hopped into the truck and went to see if we could see him come down over the hill and cross the bridge as went off to hunt. We did not see him but it was still a great day.
We then headed back across Dunraven Pass to get to the Tower campground. The moon was incredibly beautiful as we drove along the road. It really is a long after a full day because the road is quite windy and narrow but safely back to camp and ready to start again in the morning.

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