Many Amazing Animals

     The end of another work week and now three days off !  YAY !!     We have talked with many 'vacationers'  the last four days.  Things like, " How long does it take to see the entire park?".  (Yellowstone has 2.2 million acres which is larger than the states of Rhode Island & Delaware combined...how long would it take to see all of that ? )   "Where are the bears?". (Anywhere).  "Are there things  for kids to do?"(Yes, lots)  "Which way to Old Faithful", (Thirty miles that way).  "Is it flooding there?"  (We're at 6500 ft elevation and everything runs downhill!)  Needless to say a few days away will feel good.

     Everyone coming to Yellowstone wants to see as many animals as possible during their stay.  We are no different and go into the Park whenever we get a chance.  The 14 miles from West to Madison Campground usually allows us to watch eagles, elk and buffalo.  The snow on the higher mountains is melting  and many rivers are flooding causing the meadows to become very shallow lakes.  This moves the animals to the more off-road locations and makes them less accessable to viewing. 

     We packed a lunch and set off to see animals that were not in the usual settings and  take the perfect photos.   I was really in that mind-set and scoured the landscape hoping for SOMETHING to present itself.  Well, be careful what you wish for because to my surprise of all the animals we saw and there were many, bear, elk, buffalo, pronghorn antelope and even the elusive badger, the one that continually amazed me was the Human animal! 

     I don't know why I found that odd !   We pulled over at a "jam" (cars that have stopped to view a particular animal and ties the traffic up for miles) and a nice gentleman told us they saw a mother grizzly with her cub a few yards away.  Our binoculars are out and we finally do find where the bears are...but it's difficult to see them, there is a large boulder blocking part of our view.  There must have been 50-60 people all watching but the thing that really stuck out were the scopes and camera lens' all pointed at that boulder !   Each lens had to be anywhere from 6" - 24" long and some were up to 8" across There had to be at least 35 of them just where we were!   

     My perspective changed.  I began to listen and watch this Human animal and found them most amusing.  I talked with a man who watched and photographed a badger and pronghorn antelope for 10 hours!  (I could only imagine his wife sent him out for the day and he wasn't to go back till nightfall!)  Norm stopped at a turn out to look at a mother buffalo nurse her newborn and a carload of people pulled right in front of our car,  blocking us.   Buffalo are often lumbering down the road and someone will honk and try to pass them.  We saw a man taking close-up pictures of an already irritated  buffalo, only to have it jump over his SUV, damaging the hood but making a clean escape !   Families are so intent on "enjoying" the perfect vacation... you can hear Dad yelling  at the kids . Kids don't want to stand still and have another picture taken and Mom is frustrated with the whole thing.

     My favorite, though, is my own Husband.   He will find the most remote spot (with nothing in particular to see)  walk out to the edge of the field with his camera and binoculars, scan the landscape.. just to see how many cars and people  he can get to pull over !  He gets such a thrill at this!  I have said it many, many times...Everyday with this man is an adventure!

     If I can figure out how to post pictures here I'll post them to prove my point.

"EXPLORE WITH-IN...BUT VENTURE OUT !!