TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER:

Early AM (first light-9AM):

Afternoon: clear, mid 60s in Bozeman, cooler in the Park

Evening: 4:30-9PM: we arrive at Gardiner around 4:45; clear, 50s.

Snow Level (roads/landscape): Roads clear; snow on high peaks, still deep in Lamar and RP, lingering roadside between RP and Silver Gate

Water/Ice Level (ponds and rivers): Ice on Blacktail ponds, Floating Island Lake; Lamar muddy

CROWD: typical for April

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: We have an easy drive from Bozeman to Silver Gate in clear, cool weather. No major sightings and no complications. There is still snow in the Park, especially in Lamar and east of there. Most roadside ponds still frozen.

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total, pack; individuals, pullout, time of day):None today

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Bison: throughout the park, mostly in Little America & Lamar. Early calves reported, not seen

Coyote: in road at Curve around 6

Mule deer: on 89

Elk: OGR

Pronghorn: OGR, Little America, 1 in Lamar by YES

Bighorn sheep: ewes and lambs at Junction Butte around 6

COMMENT: No bison in Lamar, still full of snow

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS (4:30PM-9PM)I leave Bozeman around 3, following Laurie & Dan. We stop at Slough roadside briefly around 6-6:30 (mid-sixties). No activity. Krisztina had seen the Junction females earlier today inspecting the den area. No major sightings. We arrive at Silver Gate around 7:30PM

SPECIAL NARRATIVE Glad to be back in the Park, visiting with Laurie & Dan.

TODAY I SAW: Bison, a coyote, mule deer, elk pronghorn, bighorn sheep and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.

ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF ABBREVIATIONS: In case you need them

DF: Diagonal Forest (a feature east of the Slough den)

DPH: Dead Puppy Hill, the partly treed hill below the crest of Mt. Norris immediately south of Footbridge pullout. Named by coyote researchers before the 1995 wolf reintroduction. The hill has been a popular area with local wolf packs since wolves were reintroduced. It has held several coyote dens over the years, but to my knowledge, this year is the first time a wolf pack has denned on it. The Mollies chose an area on the western slope above the new growth forest, and produced at least two pups, one black and one gray, which were seen infrequently during June.

HF: Horizontal Forest (another feather east of the Slough den

HR: Hellroaring (large overlook pullout on the Blacktail)

LCW: Lamar Canyon West (pullout on the western side of Lamar Canyon) that overlooks a lot of, but not all of, the area wolves use at Slough.

MST: Marge Simpson Tree (distinctive tree in Slough Flats) In 2024, the Junctions used the meadows below and left of Marge as their August-October rendezvous.

OGR: "The OGR" Old Gardiner Road (current name for the new road hastily constructed after the 2022 flood on top of the former gravel road between Mammoth and Gardiner)

RP: Round Prairie (big meadow south of Pebble Creek campground)

SB: Soda Butte (or SBV Soda Butte Valley) where Soda Butte Creek flows between Round Prairie and its Confluence with the Lamar River)

SG: Silver Gate (small town just outside the northeast Park entrance)

SRT: Southern Round Tree (distinctive tree south of the Marge Simpson Tree)

UCG: Un-collared gray (Junction 2 yr-old bouncy male). Born to the Rescue Creek Pack, he joined the Junction Pack sometime in February 2025.

YGM: Yellow Grass Meadow (a feature east of and upslope of the Horizontal forest at Slough)