Discussion Forum

Beautiful warm and sunny weekend in the Park. I ran Lamar both days looking for bears but got skunked. Mammoth campground was full so I had to backtrack to Yankee Jim Canyon to park the trailer. It's probably about time to open up the rest of the campground as there were RV's parked overnight in the pullouts both in and out of the Park. No side roads are open as of yet and it sounds like there is an abundance of snow heading south but I did hear the Wapiti's were spotted along with some bears.

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YNP1-9509 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-9554 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-9627 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-9660 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-093859 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-9596 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-9747 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-9653 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-9685 by john morris, on Flickr

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YNP1-061713 by john morris, on Flickr

Statistics: Posted by bridger1215 — Sun Apr 22, 2018 9:53 pm

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What a wonderful shot, Linda! Here's a Sept. 2005 pic of "Boo Boo", one of Rosie's cubs that year. Looks like Rosie's genes were pretty dominant in all her cubs. She was such a prolific mom... nurturing, teaching life skills and survival lessons to her cubs, and protecting and fighting for them, until the day she died. Those of us who knew her, will never forget her. She was a pretty special Yellowstone bear.
BOO BOO IN THE BUSHES
[/url]oc03 - Bear Cub in the Bushes by Paula L. Jensen, on Flickr

Statistics: Posted by yellvet — Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:47 pm

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Yellvet, it's never too late! Thanks for bringing up Rosie again. Miss her!
Here's old Rosie in 2006, my best shot of her, with a cheap little 4x point-and-shoot. The rangers stopped me, and she walked within just feet of my car.

Rosie and 2006 cubs up close by Linda Hamilton, on Flickr

Statistics: Posted by lah — Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:51 am

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Sorry I was late posting my bear shots. Guess I was having too much time (and fun) on my walk down memory lane.

Statistics: Posted by yellvet — Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:08 am

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Let's take a walk down memory lane. Here are a few shots of my most favorite Yellowstone bears.
The "ORIGINAL" Rosie. Photo taken at the Tower Campground.
[/url]la03 - Black Bear Sow - Rosie by Paula L. Jensen, on Flickr

Portrait of Little Blackie. He used to escort me to the Slough Creek vault every morning.
[/url]Portrait of Little Blackie by Paula L. Jensen, on Flickr[/img]

Remember Quadra Mom? She was the queen mother of Swan Lake Flats. She had 4 cubs the year she graciously allowed me to take her portrait.
[/url]Quadra Mom Portrait by Paula L. Jensen, on Flickr

Statistics: Posted by yellvet — Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:33 am

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It's still Friday!
Collared grizzly, Twin Lakes, 5-15-2017 by Linda Hamilton, on Flickr

Statistics: Posted by lah — Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:49 pm

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Rod, Glad to see you found your way back here, I missed seeing your pictures.... You are one of the Great Ones.... Hope to see you again in the Park someday....

Statistics: Posted by pugman170 — Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:31 pm

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Karen took the pics of the mother Grizzly, her cub, and the small cinnamon black bear. I got the newborn elk.

Statistics: Posted by RProuty — Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:44 am

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In 2008 I was in a small pullout and the Canyon Pack walked by me all five of them not more than three feet away.

Statistics: Posted by RProuty — Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:38 am

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Thank you for the input on this matter from all who offered up information....

I thought long and hard on this matter and after trying out the new Canon 600 f/4 L IS 11 Well, I was sold... Without your input I never thought about it at all. Glad I looked into it before buying the new 500. All I can say is I am very pleased and I will be having a lot of fun with this thing.. It arrived yesterday and I can't wait to use it. Now I have to work a lot more than I want too because my wallet is screaming....

For those who may consider these lenses, do your homework, compare prices from multiple retailers. I compared Adorama and B&H, both compete among each other, call them and ask them to make a package deal - accessories, warranty, shipping etc, and I think you may be surprised at what they may do for you. I bought from B&H and saved a bundle.....

Happy clicking.... Thanks again to all who helped....

Statistics: Posted by pugman170 — Wed Apr 18, 2018 8:29 pm

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Usually I'll see badgers in the Park from early June to mid-July. After a mother has newborns, she often moves them to new a den, almost on a daily basis, to protect them. The thing that I find so interesting is that the youngsters take part in the digging of the new den holes. I've got a number of pix that I took awhile back, that shows a young badger digging a new hole. The youngster was covered from head to toe with fresh, dark brown dirt...even its face. Mama was likely conducting her annual Baby Badger "101 digging class" and was showing the youngster all the best places to dig holes, exactly how to dig them and how to make connecting holes and tunnels so they'd be able to come and go, quickly and freely to the den, without being detected. Badgers seem to prefer dry rocky sagebrush areas when building their den sites. I usually look for mounds of dug-up soil that has tall blades of bunch grass behind it. The den hole is, usually, located directly in front of the tall blades of bunch grass or sometimes under a tall sagebrush bush. Both make an excellent natural ground cover for the badger's den entrance, so mama can deceive predators and any person who ventures too close to the den. When it comes to a wildlife mother protecting her young, a badger mother, like most/all wild mothers, is totally non-partisan. She'll go after anyone who gets too close to her young. Doesn't matter if you're a pro photographer, a naturalist, a park ranger, hiker or a wildlife enthusiast. And it doesn't matter if the encounter was intentional or accidental. Wildlife mothers don't care. All they care about is protecting their offspring. I used to love photographing badgers of all ages. But with so many other Yellowstone critters to photograph, I'd much rather leave the badgers alone, no matter how cute or innocent they may appear.

Statistics: Posted by yellvet — Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:19 am

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I have not seen a badger in so long,but I have stepped in a lot of badger holes and I apologize to all badgers for my disparaging remarks .I wonder if I am in the park too early or too late as I have only seen them June or later ?

Yellvet,Native Americans noticed the symbiotic relationship between the coyote and the badger on the Great Plains but I have never heard of a fox and and a badger, that was quite a interesting encounter that were able to view

The last badgers I have photos of,taken with a Olympus UZI at Dorthy's Knoll 2003

Statistics: Posted by Mike — Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:39 pm

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Fantastic animal images. Nothing I've gotten in Yellowstone comes close. But I do rather well at astrophotography and May 2017 I hit the jackpot in Yellowstone. On May 22 when I was camping at Mammoth Hot Springs I went up to a pullout near the Upper Terraces and captured the Aurora Borealis over the springs. The yellow glow is steam highlighted by the ambient lights below. I've tried to get the Aurora from the upper terraces but the lights from the commercial district nearby the hot springs really louse up the photos. At this pullout the trees block most of the light .

A few nights later when I was camping at Canyon Village the Aurora was again visible. I spent quite a while photographing STEVE.



When that faded I captured the Aurora over the Yellowstone River.


Gear for astrophotography: Canon 5D M III, Samyang F1.4 24mm, Rokinon f 2.4 14mm, Induro Tripod.

Statistics: Posted by borderbrae — Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:26 pm

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