Long before any recorded human history, a massive volcanic eruption spewed an immense volume of ash that covered the entire western US, much of the Midwest and northern Mexico. The eruption dwarfed that of Mount St Helen’s in 1980, and left a huge “caldera” Yellowstone typically erupts every 600,000 years with the last one 640.000 years ago, its eruptions are among the largest known to have ever occurred on earth.
On a much smaller scale is “Old Faithful” the largest geyser in the park, regularly sending plumes of steam and water 185 feet in the air roughly every hour.
Yellowstone is a mix of thick forest and rolling alpine meadow surrounded by mountains, it also has a very large and deep lake.
In the 1800s, the only year round residents were the Shoshone Indians, they survived by hunting the very numerous bison.
Today the park is home to about 5000 bison, 600 grizzly bears and13 packs of wolves. The park has no boundaries other than lakes and mountain ranges, all animals are free to roam at will into other states as they do.
I ask myself, is it really a clever or sensible place to spend time, I don’t know but I would go back in a flash.
I will talk more about the amazing wildlife now. Many of the wooded hills are charred remnants of prime forest, lightning strikes are common here and cause many forest fires, fires which are allowed to burn themselves out, no assistance from man is allowed in the park, it is all very natural, none of the thousands of animals get any form of help or winter feed either, the only help from man would be to remove a tree if it fell across a road.
All animals in the park are 100% wild, none have ever had contact with man, while Bison and Elk may walk along the road beside you and look quiet and tame, do not be fooled, one step outside will change the scene instantly, I was stationery one day because of a herd of Bison approaching me along the road, as they passed I stuck my face out of the open window, the nearest Bison stopped, looked at me and gave a few very deep grunts, I suddenly thought what little protection I had in my fibreglass box against a ton of Bison, after that I looked from inside.
To see herds of wild Bison grazing on the alpine meadow is a wonderful sight, to see them walk across the road in front of you is magical, they are huge, a bull must weigh at least a ton, they are usually covered in mud or dust, with the heavy, shaggy coats full of bugs they require to roll in the dust to help free themselves of biting ones, they look very slow and placid, but when you see a skirmish between two bulls, they have an impressive turn of speed, faster than I could run.
The hump you see above the shoulders is a mass of muscle, it is required to support and move the massive head from a grazing position to a head up position.
While the Bison were almost completely wiped out by man, both white and red, their numbers are now very healthy, they are not confined to Yellowstone, they can be found in the surrounding states also, in fact farmers can and do shoot them if they become a problem on their land outside Yellowstone.
Often when you see a herd of Bison grazing you will also see a number of much smaller animals close by, they are Pronghorn Antelopes, they tend to stay with the Bison for protection. The Pronghorns are the fastest moving animal in the whole of America, they are all marked the same, tan and white and very difficult to get anywhere near, very flighty, as luck would have it, I turned a corner and there at the top of a bank a female Pronghorn, the females do not have the horns, I felt honoured to be allowed to be so close.
The next largest both by size and by sheer numbers must be the Elk, roughly speaking the American answer to our Red Deer, but as this is America, it is bigger and better. Joking apart it is much bigger, much heavier and with a much larger spread of antler, they wander into villages and eat the nice lawn grass but you will always find a park Ranger warning people to stay well back, they carry a fearsome rack of heavily pointed antlers which they are more than happy to use at certain times of year.
It is an impressive sight to see an Elk stag herding a dozen females, trying not to lose any and also roaring (or bugling) at nearby stags, not a good time to go walk about, there are no regulations about leaving your car, common sense prevails.
Probably the animal most visitors to the park wish to see is either or both of the resident bears, the smaller Black Bear, the one that climbs trees very expertly, so no good running up a tree to get away, or the non tree climbing Grizzly Bear, do not take time to ask which type of bear it is. I only saw a very distant Black Bear but apparently just missed a Black Bear sow with two cubs crossing the road minutes earlier, win some, lose some. I did have the pleasure and excitement of seeing a Grizzly Bear quite close up, it was at the bottom of a small waterfall turning rocks over looking for a tasty morsel, no, I did not go walk about.
Talking of Black Bears, it is a surprising fact that Black Bears are to be found in every state in America except Alaska and Hawaii. When out walking in the country you are advised to wear small bells attached to your back pack, the thought behind this is if you warn a Black Bear of your approach, it will avoid you, if you take a bear by surprise it will probably turn on you, Black Bears, I am told, have a much better temperament, I was never in a position to find out.
What else do we have in the park that might be dangerous, Wolves, re-introduced some years ago after having been wiped out years ago, it was discovered that the natural balance of the park was not right without Wolves, they help to clear up any dead animals and generally help keep the park healthy.
The park Wolves although breeding well are very difficult to see, they tend to be very shy, I believe I saw three or four running across the road a long way in front, I believe they were Wolves and not Coyotes as Coyotes are very solitary animals.
Another animal that gives quite a thrill is the Moose, if you are in the vicinity of a river or lake your chances of seeing one are better, they like nothing better than browsing on underwater plants, lowering their large heads well below the surface. An adult Bull Moose is an impressive animal, it stands very tall on very long legs, it has a hump on its back and a strange beard below its jaw, it can also sport a pretty large set of wide antlers.
I was lucky one day to see a number of cars parked, usually a good sign, it means something of interest is close by, I stopped, walked over to the river bank to see a Bull moose quietly grazing in the river, a most impressive sight.
Every patch of water or river has a good share of Canada Geese, always seeming happy with their lot, honking away non-stop, like children that have found an old horn. I was parked beside the Snake River one day, the water surface was like glass, along came a flight of Canada Geese flying low over the water casting perfect shadows of themselves.
In my travels in the park I only saw one Bald Eagle and it was some way off, impossible to mistake that lovely snow-white tail is so obvious.
I think I have covered most of the animals, quite a lot really, a wonderful spectacle, I feel privileged to have been there and would return given half a chance.
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