TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER:

Early AM (first light-9AM): 33 in SG; cloudy skies;

Late AM (9-noon) rain begins around 9AM; continues till I reach SG around noon, maybe longer, low 40s

Evening: 4:30-9PM 5PM light snow in SG; wind and rain below RP. 40s. Unpleasant to scope due to wind and rain.

Snow Level (roads/landscape): same as yesterday

Water/Ice Level (ponds and rivers): Lamar very muddy during steady rain

CROWD LEVEL: typical for April

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: Rainy and cold. No wolves at Slough early. Single gray Mollie in SB Creek on Elk Carcass around 8AM (most miss it.) Junctions are seen south of Longs around 10 but I miss them, too. No wolves in the evening (weather even worse!)

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total; pack; individuals, pullout, time of day): No wolves for me today

COMMENTS (wolves): Wolf sightings by others today are brief and I miss both!

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Grizzly: 1 early AM on SB carcass. Has a slight limp; Another one from Boulder on Moms Ridge found by Geoff. Later from LCW I find the same bear in Aspen Drainage.

Bison: Little America, including Slough den area and from Boulder

Coyote: 4 on elk carcass east of FB; then around 10:30 from Longs, a single coyote on Specimen is initially mistaken for a wolf.

Sandhill cranes: 2 in sage meadow from Slough Roadside 7AM

Elk: Slough den area (from roadside); elk carcass in SB Creek, Mollie kill

Fox: 1 passing elk carcass east of FB while coyotes still there.

Pronghorn: Slough den area (from roadside), also Little America from Boulder; Around 7:30PM four cross road suddenly in front of my car near ranch. I stop in time.

Bighorn sheep: skyline on Specimen from Longs around 10:30 in rain.

COMMENTS: Weather was unpleasant today

EARLY MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (first light till 9AM) Bob L found a fresh elk carcass in SB creek, visible from east end of Footbridge, likely a Mollie kill. He had a gray Mollie on it, which a few others saw but those of us at Slough do not hear the call right away. By the time Laurie and Dan and I get there, the wolf is long gone but we see coyotes and a fox. Raining the whole time, drizzle and then heavy.

LATE MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (9AM-12 noon) Around 10AM Bob radios about wolves seen in Little America, south of longs but he is gone when we get there and info is confusing. We thought wolves were at skyline and looked there, but they were at tree line (before we got there) testing bison. Now out of sight. Not the full pack.

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS (4:30PM-9PM) At Slough in the evening, I stop to watch a single bison lapping up water from a muddy puddle near the road. For some reason this makes me laugh. Laurie and Dan have come out tonight too, but they stop at Dorothys. I radio an apology to them, admitting that going out tonight is probably the worst idea I’ve had in a long time.

SPECIAL NOTE: near entrance gate a lodgepole fell overnight, blocking east bound lane but not westbound.

WHAT I MISSED: Both wolf sightings! The single gray on the FB elk carcass and Junctions in Little America after that.

TODAY I SAW: 2 grizzly bears, bison, coyotes, sandhill cranes, elk, a fox, pronghorn and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.

ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF ABBREVIATIONS:

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)