Ground squirrels were a dime a dozen, but one morning we saw a rabbit as we walked to breakfast. A snowshoe hare, perhaps? Too fast for me to photograph, though.
On our third day there, as we made our way from our lodging in Canyon Village up toward Mammoth Hot Springs, we had the quintessential Yellowstone experience. We got caught in a 45 minute delay while bison wandered all over the road. We were literally surrounded by these huge, powerful creatures. They were in the road and on both sides of us – from the shoulders on out into the meadows, as far as the eye could see. While sitting in traffic at a standstill, they would just cross the road between vehicles. One car we saw was stuck at the turnoff with bison standing on either side and in front of them; they couldn't drive away until the bison decided to move on. They'll have a story to tell!
Once we started moving, it was stop and go, and at a snail's pace. All along that stretch of road were more animal sightings: more bison that we could count, elk, a yellow-bellied marmot, and even a cinnamon-colored bear, albeit way off in the distance. Sarah was driving, and it was she who was behind the wheel while we were stuck in the “bison back-up”. A hairy driving experience with animals in the road, drivers acting goofy, and people getting out of their cars and wandering along the roads. She handled it beautifully, though; I was quite proud of her.
As we were making our way through the canyon towards Gardiner, we spotted several animals grazing on a steep canyon wall next to a river. Checking our reference guide, we decided they were pronghorn deer. Pretty cool!
Once we reached Mammoth, we found that it is still a favorite gathering place for elk that time of day. It really is amazing to see them making themselves so comfortable in the midst of all those human visitors.
On our way home that night, we saw a black-tailed deer, another black bear and a coyote. But the most exciting sighting came on the morning we left the park. We spotted a grizzly bear with two cubs, another coyote, and - finally - a moose! No pictures, as he was moving too fast, but it was pretty special; they're quite the elusive creatures. What a great way to end our trip!
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