, then chased floozies

There was quite a gathering of wolves at the den Wednesday (5-17-23).  I marked them so you can count.  They were rallying to greet a returning hunter.  From a video.

Fairly often it appears. Female wolves won’t breed with their fathers, so if he’s the alpha they eventually leave to find a mate (usually by joining another pack). Young males generally can’t mate, because the alpha male prevents it, so they wander looking for opportunity. One example was well documented of “Romeo” visiting a pack and all the eligible young females rushing to welcome him, until the alpha male chased him away. This repeated numerous visits until he mated with several of them ( called a sneaker male in ecology). The females stayed at home to raise their pups, and he occasionally visited, usually staying a safe distance away.

Answer: I plan to fish this trip, and I brought my boat.  But fishing isn't very good until June.  I'll meet my buddy at Hebgen lake then (date depends on weather).

Saw this wolf yesterday about 5 miles from the others of the Junction Butte Pack.  It's an older wolf with a collar.  At first I thought it might be 1048M, an old male that hasn't been seen since last fall (believed to have joined another pack in a remote part of YNP).  But after talking with Rick McIntyre (wolf guru), I now think it's a Junction Butte wolf.  But which one??  I showed him a series of pics, plus a (sharper) video, and he was baffled.

    I wish!

when Brutus caught

GRIZZLY shake, rattle, and roll (this was the shake part).  I watched this guy swim the Lamar River.  Nice cold swim.

Yes, I carry bear spray.  I could always spray the crowd when the bear attacks, right? 

Simple: the SEC is the only pertinent conference. 

Sunday's photo.  Mama Grizzly and her teenage kids walked past us.  Ricky, about 200 yards.  We were downwind, and there were several people older than me watching (folks I could outrun if necessary  ).

Then the bouquet

It was downwind, so I’m sure it got a snootful of me. Maybe 100m.

Well, we had close encounters; now distant encounters.

This is significant, because this documents 3 newborn cubs of a grizzly.  Last year we only had one sow with 3 cubs.  And it's early in the season for them to be out of the den.  Cool, but far away (about 1.5 miles).

I'm good, I'm still okay... 

Friday's grizzly.  A bit too close, no?