 Pronghorn passes us on Specimen Ridge
You can only see pronghorn antelope in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park. That seems to be true with a lot of animals in the park, but it’s officially true with the pronghorn. In my trip I didn’t see any big herds, but got to meet a few charismatic individuals and see some small family groups once we were near Roosevelt.
What was striking about the animals was that they watched us with their huge dark eyes and even approached us. (A sign somebody may have fed them, perhaps?) We ran into one on Specimen Ridge. She kept walking down the trail towards us, eyes making contact all the time. We chatted to her. She eventually veered to the side, but was comfortable close by. All the pronghorns we saw were engaged in the encounter, but not overly scared.
Friendly Pronghorn
Both sexes have horns, but only the boys’ horns sprout prongs or points. They’re native and endemic to the west (they’re from here and only here). They’re the only animal in the world to shed their horns each year, the National Parks Service says.
The most unfortunate thing about the pronghorn antelope another opportunity to tell you that you’ve gotten an animal’s name wrong. Just like the American buffalo isn’t really a buffalo, the pronghorn isn’t really an antelope under the current taxonomic regime, which requires antelopes have antlers that don’t shed.
The more serious problem is that the
Keep reading Yellowstone Pronghorn, Found in the Park’s North, Watch You Back
 It wasn’t enough to see bison, we wanted to see them doing something. They delivered. Over six days in the park my husband David and I got to see bison nursing calves, herds blocking the road, bulls ramming each other, using their horns and mouth to strip bark off trees and tons of grazing or napping
Keep reading Yellowstone Buffalo: Don’t Worry, If You Visit, You’ll See Plenty of ’em
 River otters are one of those animals that you can do all the right things–stake out the lakes they’re known to visit, drag yourself out of bed at 5 am–and still not get to see. You have to get lucky.
Keep reading Otters in Yellowstone and Grand Teton
 Mountain Goats–officially deemed an invasive, are controversial in Yellowstone–though everyone agrees they’re fun to see. You can find them near Mammoth.
Keep reading Yellowstone Mountain Goats: Officially Unwelcome, Unofficially Pretty Neat
 You can see wolves in Yellowstone without a guide easily enough–but it’ll take some work and tolerance for long-distance viewing. The re-introduction of gray wolves back into the park in 1995 has changed the typical Yellowstone tourist from a bear maniac to at least a dual purpose animal watcher. Now the second most popular question for rangers is where they can see wolves.
The answer–for anyone who hasn’t seen the thousands of PBS wolf documentaries or print stories–is Lamar Valley. Visitors used to skip the road out of Roosevelt Lodge into the northeast quadrant of the park. But since wolves were brought back in 1995–over the loud objections of the farm bureau and ranchers–they’ve been a huge attraction. They’ve had a bigger impact on the ecosystem and visitors’ experience than most would have predicted. They’re still shy and there are probably less than 100 in the park, but researchers, wolf fanatics and just regular visitors can see them from the roadside.
“Honestly, we were blindsided—none of us ever thought the wolves would be visible,” Doug Smith, wolf project leader at Yellowstone National Park, told Scott Kirkwood in a 2006 National Parks Conservation Association article. “I worked on Isle Royale National Park for 13 years and if I saw one wolf a summer, I was thrilled, but here in Yellowstone, people now expect to see wolves and a lot of them do.”
We knew to drive in Lamar Valley at dusk and dawn and to look for the people
Keep reading Looking for Wolves in Yellowstone
 Most people go to Yellowstone hoping to see a grizzly bear, wolf or bison. But the great thing about the park is all the little bonus animals you’ll be surprised with along the way. We didn’t realize when we booked at cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs that we would be staying on a Uinta Ground Squirrel town.
Keep reading Stay at a Uinta Ground Squirrel Town in Yellowstone
 When you actually go out to look, these husky-sized ground squirrels aren’t so easy to find. So, if you’re an easterner headed to Montana, check out the Greycliff Prairie Dog Town a couple hours outside Yellowstone National Park.
Keep reading Visit Prairie Dogs Just Outside Yellowstone in Montana
 “Erv never would’ve walked up on a bear that he saw. This was an accidental encounter at close range,” says bear expert and Evert’s friend Chuck Neal . “He wasn’t a moron. He was a brilliant man.”
Keep reading Yellowstone Bear Attack Investigation Halts Trapping, Starts Disagreements
 Halfway between Salt Lake and Yellowstone, the Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge attracts hundreds of sandhill cranes and almost no people.
Keep reading Grays Lake NWR, Idaho: 100s of Sandhill Cranes, No People
The other question is when the bear researchers left the area and if they left a sizable carcass behind. The Chicago Tribune says the researchers lured the bare to the trap with a carcass. Since grizzlies are known to protect carcasses, how did they dispose of it? The area was posted for bears. So is most of Yellowstone. The problem may be too many bear signs instead of not enough. I was there last week and nearly everywhere there was some sort of bear sign. I saw at least two grades–bear activity and area closed. But the area closed signs near Elephant Back trail were ambiguous; the trail was still open and a ranger lead a hike there. Maybe Yellowstone is becoming the park that cried bear?
Keep reading Who is to Blame for Fatal Yellowstone Area Grizzly Attack?
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