Category: Yellowstone National Park

Grandma Bighorn, a Sweet Goodbye

Posted on by Joy

It has been a gray winter in Yellowstone. Overcast, snow, and WIND. During a few days stay in mid-February, however, there was a sweet moment early in the week. We pulled into a protected pullout near the Yellowstone River. This poor old grandma Bighorn sheep headed toward us and we retreated to make room, but there is not much room to retreat in this pullout. OK, OK, she was about 10 feet away–don’t tell. We are supposed to stay 25 yards from such wildlife, even when they come to us. Broken horn on far side, looks like arthritis in her front shoulders, eyes somewhat sunken, moving very slow–all alone and females travel in groups. For a few minutes she just hung with us, checking us out every once in a while but not anxious, fearful, or in a rush to leave. Perhaps for a moment we offered safety and a sense of peace. With our presence, wolves are very unlikely. We may be just about the last people to see her alive.

A tribute to your life, sweet girl.

SNAP*Shot: The Marvelous Monument Plant

Posted on by Joy

What are those tall stalks growing in the meadows? Do you see them? Let’s explore.

This four- foot stalk is covered with small flowers, and the flowers are green with purple dots. They look more like they belong in subtropic areas of the world, not the meadows of Yellowstone. So unusual and so beautiful.

This is a Green Gentian (Frasera speciosa), also called the Monument Plant, and is monocarpic. No, I didn’t know what that was either, but it thoroughly explains this unique plant. Green gentian can live to be 80 years old, but each year of its life all you see are the pretty basal leaves growing a few feet tall and reaching to the sky until . . .

. . . the last year of its life when it produces a stalk from 4 to 7 feet tall covered with beautiful small  flowers. The flowers range from pale green to white with purple or blue dots, but I’ve only ever seen the flowers in shades of green. This is the  “monument” phase. Each flower produces up to 60 seeds ensuring the next generation. The plant then dies leaving the dead stalk which may stand a few years, as you can see above.

So “monocarpic” means growing many years without flowering, then flowering and dying after its seeds are developed. We may see many stalks across a meadow or only a few, but the stalks tell us that this is the last hoorah of this amazing monument plant.

SNAP*Shot: Annual Visit with Harlequin Ducks

Posted on by Joy

It’s Mother’s Day and once again the Harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) are at LeHardy Rapids not far from Yellowstone Lake.  They visit here annually and so do I. Let’s share some time with these fearless critters.

Look there . . .

SNAP*Shot: Red Foxes

Posted on by Joy

The Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most widespread and adaptable mammal on earth. They are found in very diverse habitats from the Arctic to the desert. The also adapt easily to human environments such as farms, suburbia, and even cities. Foxes have a nickname, “reynard”, from the French word renard, which refers to someone who is unconquerable due to his cleverness. The resourcefulness of the red fox has earned it a legendary reputation for cunning and intelligence.

Yellowstone has been home to red foxes for many years, first documented in the 1880s.  The red fox is the smallest canid (dog family Canidae) of three found in the park, coyote and wolf being the other two. Foxes rarely howl like wolves or yip and sing like coyotes, they bark. They do have many communication sounds, but primarily they bark. The average female (vixen)  weighs about 10 pounds. The male (dog) weighs 11-12 pounds. They stand about 16 inches tall at the shoulder and are about 3 feet long. One third of their length is that beautiful, bushy, white-tipped tail. Although the average lifespan in the wild is 3-7 years, red fox in Yellowstone can live up to 11 years. I guess they love it as much as we do!

Continue . . .