Today was our last
full day and we had a lot of things planned. We wanted to head up the
Beartooth highway in morning light to get some better pictures and we
wanted to maximize our time trying to find fox
kits. With the latter goal in mind, we had used some of our local
contacts to hire a guide. The guide knew of a different fox den and a
likely place for a Great Gray owl. Today could be a great day!
We were out a bit
later at 7AM today because we wanted to stakeout the fox den site from
last night for a while and we heard that the kits weren’t active first
thing in the morning. We hung out until 8AM
until one of the photographers from the night before stopped by for a
chat. As it turns out, the kits were spotted at 6:30AM so we “just
missed” them again. After waiting a bit longer we decided to head up
the Beartooth. Driving East a little bit later
in the morning turned out to be a good thing since the sun had risen
enough so that it wasn’t blinding us as we drove. Besides checking out
some new territory, the Beartooth was our last hope of finding Pikas.
The only people that had seen any Pikas had seen
them along the Beartooth and we had a general idea of where to look.
The drive along the Beartooth was spectacular.
We did see some wildlife along the way including multiple Yellow-bellied Marmots:
We stopped at all
the pullouts that were near good Pika habitat. I got out at each of
them and scanned for movement as long as I could (it was cold AND windy)
but we saw nothing. Finally, Karen got a glimpse
of one but it disappeared before I could see it. By this point, we had
run out of good Pika Habitat so we continued up the Beartooth admiring
the scenery.
We turned around
before Red Lodge because we had Fox Kits to find. On the way back down,
we repeated the process of stopping at all the turnouts and scanning
for movement until my fingers turned numb (Did
I mention that it was cold?). Finally, this process paid off. I spied
a Pika down on the rocks and beckoned Karen out of the warm car (only
MY fingers were the ones getting numb). The Pika darted from rock to
rock but was too far away for decent pictures
and the wind prevented us from hearing it’s cool “Eeeeeeee” call. Our
Pika mission was finally accomplished although I had hoped for a closer
experience.
After enjoying more
sandwiches at Buns and Beds in Cooke City, we staked out the fox den
for a while but no kits made an appearance. We then headed into the park
for a few hours. As luck would have it, “Hot
Ranger” was manning the entrance booth as we entered the NE gate which was obviously a good omen. In
the Lamar Valley, one coyote pup was hanging around the entrance to the
den. We saw a Black Bear at the Yellowstone River Bridge and another at
Elk Creek. The second might have had a cub
but we didn’t see it.
On the way back to Silver Gate we stopped in to
check out the Golden Eagle nest at Slough Creek. Both parents were around and we got a good look at the chick as well.
We also saw two coyote pups out and about
around the den site in the Lamar Valley.
We met our guide at around 5PM. The plan was to look for a Great Gray owl that was
making appearances at this time of day along
the Beartooth. So, off we went. The light along the Beartooth was
great but the owl didn’t make an appearance. On the way back to Cooke
City, we did happen across a nice Red Fox
It was still light
enough for us to go check out another fox den site that the guide knew about and we are so glad
that we did. Not only did we see all three kits for a while, one of
them entertained us for at least an hour. We watched
this kit as it played with bark, practiced pouncing and digging and
even saw it catch some bugs and a worm. The latter was especially nice
to see given that these foxes were orphans. Their mother had recently
been killed by a car and the father had long
ago left the den site.
These darling little
kits will need to grow up very fast if they want to survive. We
were so excited to get great looks at our first fox kits but heartbroken
at the same time knowing that these kits
faced long odds at survival. For now the neighbors are helping to feed them and we hope that is enough.
After a great
experience like that we celebrated by having dinner with our guide and his
girlfriend at the Log Cabin Café where we made plans to meet up tomorrow
early to continue our search for a Great Gray owl.
Today’s highlights:
- 4 Red Fox (3 Kits)
- 3 Golden Eagles (1 chick)
- 2 Black Bears
- 2 Coyotes (2 pups)
- 2 Pika
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