JUNCTION BUTTE PACK:

Since June 21 when Missy and Rick and I spotted the Junctions pups at the edge of their new den site west of Aspen Drainage, there have been multiple sightings of them and several adults. It’s never been as predictable nor as easy a sighting as it was at the traditional den, but to those of us who love wolves, it was good enough.

The sightings have been quite varied, from momentary glimpses to all morning play sessions, from pullouts in Little America stretching from straightaway to Longs to Aspen and Crystal, sometimes right from road level and sometimes at the top of a hill.

In early August, pups and adults began showing up more and more often in the Slough flats or in the meadow below the Marge S impson Tree. Just a few days before my visit, it became normal to see them in the meadow quite a bit left of Marge, below the tree we call the SRT (Southern Round Tree.)

I am just happy they are being seen at all!

Update on 1478F

Alas, it appears that she has lost whatever pups she may have had. The pack was seen near her regularly, so her pups were being fed, but pup mortality has always been high. We likely won’t know what happened until the 2025 wolf project report comes out next year.

On August 16, the day after I returned to Bozeman after this trip, 1478F was seen with the full Junction pack at the new Slough rendezvous. She had been seen earlier in August by a few watchers, but her visit was brief. This one was longer, and she now seems to be re-integrated to the pack, suffering occasional pinnings by alpha 1385F.

Recent reports indicate that even 1479 has dropped her intolerance of 1478. I’m not sure why females in some packs are so frequently intolerant of each other, but the Junction Butte pack has a long history of such behavior, which causes the persecuted female (for example 870, 969, 907, 1109, 1386, 1478) to bed separately, den separately, or sometimes even be killed by her own pack (870, 969).

RESCUE CREEK PACK

The only update I can present is that this pack does have surviving pups. I do not have an accurate count yet. They have been sighted sporadically far to the south from S Curves and Nature Trail, in the usual area, east of the Mickey Mouse ears area.

MOLLIES PACK:

This legendary pack has not been seen regularly in Lamar or Soda Butte Valley since mid-July. The female who had at least two pups near the new growth forest on Mt. Norris, 1411F, was found dead at Confluence late July. Preliminary reports suggest she was killed by other wolves; and the most likely suspects would be Junctions.

It is unknown what may have happened to the Mollies pups. Only a handful of people ever saw them, and the consistent report was one black and one gray. It is certainly possible that the other Mollies were able to protect them and lead them to a safer location. They would have been old enough to travel, if an adult wolf led the way.

Hopefully the Wolf Project will fill in some details when the Report comes out.

WAPITI PACK

This pack had pups this year but something seems to have happened. Only one black pup has been seen consistently with adult wolves in their “usual” rendezvous area west of Alum and Grizzly Hill in Hayden for the last month or so. As many as 9 pups were seen in that area for several days in early June (I saw 7 myself), but it changed soon after.

It could be a distemper year or perhaps the majority of pups may have been led to a different (unknown) rendezvous area. I’m not sure what the usual count of adults is at the moment, either. The alphas have been seen with other adults off and on, crossing the road, feeding at kills and carcasses throughout the summer, but only one pup has been reported for quite a while.