One of the gifts never to be taken for granted in nature occurs when you’re able to witness wildlife in their native habitats, to see living creatures in settings & landscapes that become enhanced by their very presence. I’m not sure why it feels so magical to me… Maybe it’s that beautiful balance observed in ecosystems at play, & maybe that’s the Libra in me–the scales, always righting myself & looking for balance?  Or, maybe it’s the prevalence of seeing wildlife here in the West? I mean, at the farm in NH I certainly saw my share of native wildlife–all kinds of birds, including wild turkeys in flocks strolling through to eat the fallen apples off of the trees in the lower fields. But the list went on & on–coywolves, moose, deer, foxes, possums, skunks, raccoons, & countless types of rodents, mostly unwanted.

Out here, the wildlife includes unusual animals, different from those I’m used to seeing–animals like elk, mule deer, bison, longhorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, coyotes (way prettier than coywolves, FYI), grizzly bears, & very different birds (like the ubiquitous magpie, so pretty).

Perhaps the types of wildlife out here hold reverence for me. Herds of bison conjure up the specters of history of the past, contrasting American Indians who honored the spirits of all animals in ways that settlers disregarded with a construction of whiteness connected to exploitation, a shared history of appropriation & misuse that causes me shame. When I could see wild herds of beautiful bison grazing in Yellowstone National Park, where the largest number (2,500) live in their native habitat, I felt & feel a sense of appreciation. These beautiful creatures that were exterminated by the millions faced extinction, & only conservation efforts brought them back from only 325 in 1884 & 1,000 in 1889 to over 250,000 in the 1990s (combined private & in the wild). That kind of close call is painful to even imagine.

Pronghorn antelope, mule deer, & elk also add their own kind of beauty to western landscapes.

The first time I heard a deer barking, I couldn’t believe the sound. Wampa loved to chase the deer out of the orchard at the farm, especially at night when they’d try to strip saplings of bark & new limb growth. Such strange sounds. If you haven’t heard it, then YouTube it. It’s so weird. Thus, when I heard the elk at the Grand Tetons & Jackson Lake Lodge perform their bugling in the fall rutting season (something I’d never known anything about), you could say that it seemed oddly reminiscent of home. Mature males bugle at dawn & dusk, calling to their ladyfriends nearby, hoping to get lucky. (Here’s a clip of bugling in case you’re truly curious.) We’d wake up to the bugling at the Tetons, which was pretty neat to hear & then witness from the deck (check my previous blog post about the Grand Tetons, if you’d like to see the views the lodge decks offer, even from the rooms). The sound would have made me think of birds more than elk, but that’s the strange thing about wildlife & nature. Things surprise you.

Beauty, everywhere, comes in unexpected forms & sounds out here.

Another treat appeared in the form of a trumpeter swan, the once almost extinct & heaviest North American flying bird at 6 feet in length & roughly 25 pounds. They really do sound like they are playing a trumpet when they call, which is pretty neat. Quite handsome in their monochromatic appearance, they appear rather different from the mute swans I’m more used to seeing. I must confess that I do have a nostalgic, treasured spot in my heart for trumpeter swans, given my love of E.B. White. As you know if you’ve read my other blog posts, I love E.B. White’s writing (I mean, there’s a reason he was the editor & polisher of Strunk & White’s Elements of Style) & his The Trumpet of the Swan I remember ordering from the class Scholastic catalog at my elementary school in Rockport, MA, as a child. (Many of my favorite books from that time in my youth involved survival & wildlife as well–like Island of the Blue Dolphins & the Misty of Chincoteague series.)

Such a treat to be able to order books with lovely cover art, & I’ll forever remember that image of the trumpeter swan. The real thing didn’t disappoint.

As I bring this post to a close, I suppose I could add grainy images of a black bear & coyote that I captured in pictures during the trip, but they wouldn’t be all that spectacular to see here. Rather, I’d prefer to share some that turned out fairly well (at least in my humble opinion) during the commute out of Yellowstone & back to Utah. (I readily admit that I’m a novice photographer, a hobbyist really, but I do enjoy working with images to find pleasing compositions & uses of light & shadow.) Since the elk are quite copious at Mammoth Springs, wandering around the grounds & in between cottages, visitors can see young elklings, like the one of which I took a picture above while walking to the dining hall for dinner. The elk really are everywhere there, so people have to be careful of stumbling upon mothers & her young unexpectedly in the dark. For example, we had a mother & two calves right outside our cottage in the pitch black at night when coming back from dinner. When the outside light went on, it was like, “Oh wow, hey there!” Crazy how widely the elk graze & roam on the grounds, with plenty of signage to warn visitors of approaching them–as they are still wild animals.

On that last day of the trip, snow had fallen–which created different kinds of wildlife images. I’ll leave you with a couple to look at (along with the pronghorn antelope herd image above) taken on the same day. It felt comical how often people had to stop for bison in Yellowstone, especially when the snow started to fall. These majestic beasts definitely own the roads there, & rangers are very good about ensuring their safety (as you can see), guiding them away from traffic. Many delightful animals to see & appreciate.