TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER:

Early AM (first light-9AM): 42 degrees at 5:15 in SG

Late AM (9-noon) high of 84 at 11 as I leave Slough

Evening: 4:30-9PM 71 in SG but at Slough it’s 87! There is a bit of rain and wind.

CROWD: insanely busy

OVERNIGHT NEWS: Krisztina was tipped off to a new carcass just off the Lamar River Trail (found yesterday) visible from the west end of Footbridge

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: It’s a warm day but Krisztina and I manage some excellent morning sightings. Two bears from Footbridge, three bears near the mid-point carcass, and 2 adult Junctions with all six pups at Slough. One lone pup has a brief encounter with a single coyote.

No wolves this evening but I see bears on the Lamar Trail carcass again.

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total; pack; individuals, pullout, time of day): 8 wolves total (all Junctions)

Junctions 1385F and 1545M in the Slough rendezvous with all 6 pups. They now hang out in the meadow below the SRT. Seen from Dave’s Hill.

While one pup is alone in the meadow, a coyote approaches and tries to scare him. He doesn’t fall for it, although he does tuck his tail.

In the evening I scope from the hill behind Dougs lot (where K was this morning) but I don’t see any wolves (it’s very hot)

COMMENTS (wolves): It’s been nearly 2 months since I last had these pups in good view. They are now 4 months old and look great.

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Grizzly: 5 today. Two boars at dawn on the Lamar Trail carcass; a big boar on the Mid Point carcass plus the sow with blonde cub in early morning from Mid Point. The sow and cub head east and cross the road to the north east of Trash Can

Bison: all over the place

Coyote: 2 we see one at tree line from Mid-Point while watching the griz mom and cub. Later, from Dave’s Hill, a single adult coyote approaches a lone Junction pup in the meadow below the SRT. They have a face off, then the c oyote bluff charges the pup. The pup moves away but doesn’t run. The pup is fine and the coyote leaves going south.

Mule deer: I see a few mulies in the high meadows west of SG

White tailed deer; a pair of white tails crosses the road from south to north as I approach Round Prairie late morning.

Bald eagle: near the Mid-Point carcass from Lamar mid-point in the AM. In the evening I see two bald eagles at Slough

Golden Eagle: at Slough from Daves

Fox: We see the local fox in the road with food in her mouth between upper and lower Baronette. I see one near Thunderer on the way down from SG in the evening. I think it was different from the one this morning.

Geese: Lamar

Pronghorn: In Lamar visible from Mid Point and Picnic. Also in the Slough flats in the evening.

EARLY MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (first light till 9AM) We join Marissa at Footbridge. The carcass is a rut-killed bison, largely out of sight in sage slightly west of the new growth forest, just below a clump of trees growing out of a drainage.

There are bears in the area; one heading up hill and the other down. The bruins pass each other without incident like ships in the night.

Marissa says they were feeding on it in the dark.

Krisztina and I relocate to Mid-point in Lamar, and look south to the days old bison carcass between two channels of the river. A big grizzly boar is feeding and there are many birds, including a bald eagle, waiting their turn.

A grizzly sow with a golden-colored yearling cub are seen just east of the carcass. They seem hesitant to approach (good instincts!)

Around 7AM, the boar leaves and heads south towards the treeline, crossing the main channel of the Lamar.

We expect mom and cub to now take their turn but they dont. Instead, they head east with purpose. Maybe they can smell the Lamar Trail carcass?

These two bears are particularly good looking, especially the blonde yearling. We linger, enjoying this fairly close view of them. We even move to Picnic when they continue east.

Just beyond Picnic they angle towards the road, clearly wanting to cross. Of course, people foolishly rush out to get closer. We yell to them to come back. The bears see them and change their route, going further east. When the people return to the pullout, we calmly explain that the bears wanted to cross and their rushing towards them deterred them.

When the bears get passed Trash Can, they head for the road again. Cars stop, and Krisztina calls Deb, the volunteer wildlife assistant, who is already on her way from Footbridge.

Deb succeeds in helping the bears cross to the north.

Once the bears cross, we go to Slough and park at Bob’s. The Junction pups have just been spotted by watchers on Dave’s Hill in the meadow below the SRT.

We cannot see them from here (they are too low), so K heads west to try to find the Junction adults and I climb up Dave’s Hill to see the pups.

This is my first sighting of the pups in two months. They are now four months old and have grown appropriately since I saw them last, and I thoroughly enjoy seeing them. They seem healthy, happy and bonded.

I see all six, and two bedded adults: 1385F and 1545M.

There must be a carcass nearby because both adults and pups are chewing on things. If Im right about a nearby carcass, it would explain why no one has seen any adult Junctions on the Mid-point carcass yet.

Well, thats not completely accurate. 1478F was seen on it a day or so ago. She is still hanging out on Jasper, rather than with the pack at Slough. I hope that changes soon.

Krisztina comes back and climbs a low hill behind Doug’s lot where she is able to see what we see from Dave’s.

LATE MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (9AM-12 noon) As the day warms the adults begin to climb the hill and disappear into the shade behind the SRT. There are two small ponds back there out of our sight, which makes is a cool and interesting hang out spot.

The pups soon follow the adults and we are now down to just one in view.

This little one continues to explore by him/her self. Someone spots a gray canid in the meadow to the right of the pup. At first I think it’s an adult wolf but when I see the animal it looks like a coyote to me. But kinda large. Hmm. The pup tucks its tail. That would not make sense if the gray is a Junction. A pup would more likely run towards it, wagging its tail and the adult would be friendly, too.

This gray is an adult coyote.

We are suddenly fearful for the lone pup, even though the family is close by. The coyote gets closer and the pup approaches the coyote a step or two.

They have a standoff, about three feet apart. Suddenly the coyote charges pup. I dont know if there is contact, but the pup moves away. Now their places are reversed; the pup is east of the coyote. They stare at each other another second or two. Luckily the coyote makes no further aggressive moves, turns and heads off to the south.

The pup is fine. Perhaps wiser than a moment before.

It’s significant to me that the pup did not run away from the coyote, nor did he challenge the coyote himself. Well, he has a story to tell his siblings now!

He eventually heads up the hill towards the SRT to do just that!

It’s getting hotter, and I know Krisztina has a lot to do this afternoon. So, we both head east.

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS (4:30PM-9PM) I scope all the right areas from the little hill behind Dougs, as Krisztina did this morning, but find no wolves in view. I think it’s just too hot! I leave Slough around 7:30 to head back east.

I see people on Hubbard watching the Mid Point carcass but they say there is nothing on it. I blame the heat.

As I continue, I get a radio call that there are two bears on the Lamar Trail carcass. I stop at Exclosure and scope from my new spot finding one bear just leaving that carcass, headed into the new growth forest.

I also find a golden eagle perched on the ground right above the Lamar south of me.

I move to Footbridge and find a bear still on the carcass. Its a lighter one, perhaps the same one I saw this morning.

At 8:15 and go back to SG. At Round Prairie, a pair of white tailed deer cross the road south to north.

Laurie and Dan are at home when I arrive, so we have a nice chat before I head to bed.

TODAY I SAW: 5 grizzly bears (including 1 cub), bison (and calves, 2 coyotes, mule deer, white-tailed deer, 3 bald eagles, 2 golden eagles, 2 foxes, geese, pronghorn, 8 Junction wolves (1385F, 1545M plus all 6 pups) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

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 Mollie’s chose an area on the hill’s 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)