TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER:

Early AM (first light-9AM): 32 at 4:35 in SG. Plus at Slough there is no wind to speak of, which feels nice.

Late AM (9-noon) temp is 53 by 11:15 when I leave Slough.

Evening: 4:30-9PM Temp not recorded but a hail storm came through around 6:30

Snow Level (roads/landscape): snow receding from Northeast

Water/Ice Level (ponds and rivers): high but not flooding

CROWD: busier than normal for May

OVERNIGHT NEWS I got 9 hours sleep last night!

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: Another great morning at Slough with all six Junction pups and their sitters. Females 1385 and 1479 are fed by a returning hunting party. Frank went to Lamar and saw Mollie 1411F near the new growth forest on Mt. Norris in the late morning;

In the evening, several of us see former Mollie alpha female 1410F in Lamar, while those at Slough see a successful hunt close up.

Also this evening, some at Slough see what may have been a seventh pup (smaller, possibly dead) being carried by 1385F.

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total; pack; individuals, pullout, time of day): 17 total wolves for me today. Junctions and lone wolf 1410F

16 Junctions: 10 of 11 adults 8B/2G (including 1385F, 1392M, 1479F, 1484M, 1545M, uncollared gray, limping black, the other uncollared black adult, the uncollared yearling (missing 1478F) and all six pups at Slough from the eastern lot in the morning

1 former Mollies, now lone wolf 1410F – south of the road in Lamar from Mid-point to Geriatric in the evening

COMMENTS: Frank sees 1411F in Lamar while I’m at Slough. We are now convinced that she gave birth to pups in a hidden area on the western side of Mt. Norris, near the new-growth forest.

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Grizzly: AM: 9 grizzlies today! Two bears above the horizontal forest at Slough; a sow with a two year old cub. Later in the AM we see the Middle Ridge sow with her two yearlings up on Specimen (from Eastern lot). One more grizzly south of Trashcan on my way back to SG around noon.

In the evening, from Round Prairie, I see the Mixed family sow with one yearling cub and one 2 yr old cub.

Bison: various, SBV, Lamar, Slough, Crystal

Sandhill crane: Slough

Mule deer: several grazing near the Entrance gate

Elk: AM Slough den area. A few near Mt. Norris from Geriatric in the evening.

Fox: This evening I see the local fox as I drive by Baronette.

Geese: Slough and Lamar

Pronghorn: various, Slough & Lamar

COMMENTS: Grizzly family at Round Prairie. This evening I stop at Round Prairie to join others watching the mixed family of bears. This sow was first seen last year with a coy and a yearling. Now the cubs are both a year older. Bill H believes she adopted the coy after it got separated from its mother last spring. (The poor thing was seen on its own for several days.) Shortly after people stopped seeing this cub on its own, Bill saw this sow who had previously been seen with a single yearling, now had a coy, as well. (Bill knows bears by sight).

It’s very unusual, but not unheard of, for sows to adopt cubs from other mothers. But I don’t think anyone has ever seen a mother adopt a cub that is a year younger than her own cub.

Last fall I saw this trio up close when they crossed the road ahead of me just east of the Pebble Creek bridge.

Tonight, they are grazing contentedly out in the open meadow of Round Prairie, making it easy for dozens of people to enjoy the sight.

EARLY MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (first light till 9AM) I start in the Eastern lot with Rick, Carla Rae & Matt and Jakob..

Early birds on Daves radio that 1479F has just come in via the Parrot rock. I see her arrive at the sage den. There are three other “black shapes” bedded nearby.

As the light improves, meadowlarks begin their morning serenade. Around 6AM, two adults go to the sage den and the pups come out but go back inside quickly. We wait.

Then we hear howling. The four blacks perk up and look intently to the west. Watchers on Daves spot wolves west of Marge: two blacks and a gray, headed in the direction of the den.

Suddenly there are wolves everywhere. Several previously hidden wolves get to their feet and run towards the parrot rock. A hunting party is returning. Three wolves appear: the alpha male, 1484M and the smaller yearling.

We see a huge dog pile of wagging tails and happy wolves. 1385F and 1479F are very aggressive seeking meals, and yes, they get fed. 1479 is not satisfied and begs more from the alpha male. She is relentless but I think he has given all he had. She then goes after 1484M and he complies.

The alpha male goes to the sage den and the pups come to greet him. There is so much activity, it’s hard to know where to look. The pups go up, down and all around, traipsing through the grass in their rocking-horse gait.

Several pups get to the spot where the main feeding took place. They certainly seem to recognize a smell, and sniff a lot, but don't seem to know quite what else to do about it.

For a while, things quiet down with most wolves bedded, scattered about the area. At 8:30 the activity ramps up again and we are treated to another hour of activity: pups following adults, playing with them, climbing on them, and exploring on their own.

The day has warmed nicely to about 50, and it seems to invigorate the pups. One of them heads down to the gully on its own. It finds something smelly and rolls on its back! I have never seen so small a pup do this.

Two more pups come down there and they roll in it, too! Then 1479 comes down and SHE rolls there. I wonder what it is?

While 1479 is on her side, the pups try to nurse, but she is not into it this time. She moves upslope and they follow, but get distracted by something else.

1385 nurses the pups twice this morning. At different times this morning, both 1385 and 1479 travel down to the spring meadow for a drink.

Later in the morning, when the pups have been inside the den a while, an uncollared black sticks his head in the den. The pups tumble outside again and he leads them to the left, where he beds and lets them crawl on him.

1545M takes his turn playing with the pups.

1385 leads 4 pups towards the Western Trees where she beds near an antler. The 4 pups sit with her a while, then start to explore. Two of them travel all the way over to the eastern trees by themselves, then back to mom.

Joining us In our lot today is a visiting group of lawyers from Earth Justice. Their timing is perfect as they get to see a lot of excellent puppy activity.

Around 10:15 things begin to quiet down once again. The pups are underground, probably napping after their busy morning, and the adults are beginning to see shaded spots for their own naps.

I leave Slough a little after 11AM at 53 degrees

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS (4:30PM-9PM) I go into the Park again at 4:30. Intending to go Slough.

When I reach Confluence and check in with other watchers, Gary summons me to Hubbard Hill. He has a wolf in view and wants to know who it is.

I join him, Celia and Glenda. It is raining but we dont care. Bear watcher Dave spotted this wolf a half hour ago, above Amethyst Bench. The wolf has now made its way to the valley floor and is traveling east.

The wolf is a black-going gray with a GPS collar. The animal also has quite a bit of white on the face, white on the back of the front legs and a very dark black lower tail.

Putting everything together, the consensus is that we are looking at former Mollie alpha female 1410F.

She looks very healthy, especially given that she has been alone for quite a long time. No one knows what happened between her and the other females in the Mollies pack, but for some reason the pups she had in Pelican last year did not survive. She has not been seen traveling with the pack for a year since they started visiting Lamar more frequently.

I am delighted to get this excellent view of her.

She continues east so we move to Trash Can. A hail-storm arrives, with thunder and lightning, sending us to our cars. Luckily, the wolf waits out the storm too, bedding down near the tree line.

Once the storm passes, we get out again and find a nice rainbow to the east. Celia finds 1410F again, still bedded near the tree line. Around 6:30 she sets off east again. Several bison object to her presence but she avoids them. She doesn’t seem to be hunting.

We relocate again to Geriatric and pick her up once more, now in the deep sage of the middle flats. She looks behind her repeatedly, and as she nears the Confluence, she seems to be sniffing more intently. No doubt there is remaining scent of her former pack members in this area.

She finds something in green grass and rolls about in it, then nibbles on something she finds on the ground. I leave at 7:45 with her still on the move getting closer and closer to the area where 1411F has denned.

I hope she is not in danger from them. She is a very interesting wolf and I hope I learn more of her current story in the coming days.

SPECIAL NARRATIVE: Meeting the Dutchers. Around 11AM as I am about to leave Slough, I meet some wolf-world celebrities; Jim and Jamie Dutcher plus two of their assistants. I so thrilled I got a chance to thank them for their wonderful al foundational work and for all they have contributed to our appreciation and understanding of wolves.

WHAT I MISSED: When I get back to Silver Gate, Laurie tells me that I missed some action at Slough tonight when the Junctions went hunting and ended up grabbing a new bison calf just across the creek from the Gravel Pile pullout.

She says others reported some confusing news. They saw 1385F carrying what seemed to be a limp and likely dead pup near the sage den. They said it appeared to be smaller than the six black pups who were seen at the same time, behaving normally, roaming and playing around the den.

TODAY I SAW: 9 grizzly bears (including two 2-year-old cubs and 3 yearling cubs), bison (and calves), coyotes, sandhill cranes, mule deer, elk, geese, meadowlarks, 16 wolves (including 15 Junctions: 9 adults adults; 1385F, 1392M, 1479F, 1484M, 1545M, uncollared gray, limping black, the other uncollared black adult, the uncollared yearling, 6 black pups (missing 1478F and 1489M) plus 1410F (former Mollies alpha female) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS I USE, 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 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)