#Yellowstone National park

[riverwindphotography]

A Hushed Beauty

(c) riverwindphotography, October 2024

[travelexperience4emotions]

ᚫαℓℓ

[aestum]

(by JD Andrews)

[reasonsforhope]

"Two weeks ago [mid-June, 2024], Yellowstone National Park made headlines when a mother grizzly bear was spotted out and about with five cubs in tow — the biggest grizzly bear cub litter ever seen in the park. 

Grizzly bears in that region of North America typically only have one to three bear cubs a litter. 

Frank van Manen, the leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, said it was possible that an “adoption” event had occurred, in which two mothers give birth in the same year, and one ends up taking on the sibling’s cubs. 

In an interview, van Manen told Wyofile that if the bears had all been born in the same litter, it would be the first five-cub litter “recorded in the history of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.”

“Whether it was an adoption or whether it truly is a five-cub litter, it just amazes me that every year there’s some new surprise to us, even after intensively studying this population for more than 50 years,” van Manen said. “I just think that’s cool.” ...

On top of this record sighting, [Grizzly watch Bill] Hamblin is baffled by the sheer number of cubs that have been spotted so far in 2024. 

Since they started emerging in the spring, the total count of unique grizzly bear cubs spotted has ticked up to a whopping 18 — triple the average number. 

“That’s more than we’ve ever seen,” Hamblin said."

-via GoodGoodGood, July 3, 2024

[rebeccathenaturalist]

If you're a bison, an elk, or a bighorn sheep, you can't just walk into any grocery store and take home bags of food to stash away in a pantry. While some wild animals do cache surpluses of food, feast-or-famine patterns are quite common even in areas of great biodiversity and food availability, particularly as seasonal foods may wax or wane. And if there are other species that eat similar foods to what you prefer, there will be competition.

Or will there? Yellowstone National Park is full of herbivores chowing down on the abundant plant life there. But they aren't all going after the exact same plants all at the same time. This study demonstrates that each species inhabits a unique food-related niche, and the parameters of that niche may shift as the seasons change.

Summer, for example, sees a lot more crossover in terms of what the large herbivorous ungulates eat, simply because there's plenty to go around. But in winter, when food is more scarce, each species becomes more of a specialist. Deer tend to eat more woody vegetation (in fact, their digestive systems adjust seasonally), and mostly stick to one area. Bison, which are larger and more powerful, can forge paths through the deep snow to find dried plants other animals can't access.

It makes sense that wildlife would exploit food sources differently according to species and season, but it's neat to see a study giving a more quantitative look at that behavior. Not everything in nature is about competition; sometimes it's about carving out one's own specialized niche that, incidentally, leaves enough room for others to do the same, and then coexisting together even through the hard times. We could learn a lot from our wild neighbors.

[311amber-cat]

Wolf crossing the road in Yellowstone National Park 🐺♡

[constantlyfalling]

Yellowstone Winter 2023

[vintagecamping]

A Ranger watches the progression of a fire.

Yellowstone National Park

1953

[fridaybear]

Y'all. It's Friday. Autumn is creepin' in. Hope you make that weekend special. "Sleeping Mother Grizzly Bear & Cute Cub" by Larry Lamsa is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

[richard-lengthenhancer]

[riverwindphotography]

Sylvan Mists and Silent Spruce

(c) riverwindphotography, September 2024

[oogleboogleoogle]

Bison aplenty, even more!

[pangeen]

" The Starks of Yellowstone " // © Christian Hartmann

[lesbiandeancas]

Bison in Yellowstone National Park

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Shake Your Booty

Almost transitioned weasel to ermine in Yellowstone.

Photographer: Pat Nowotny

[snototter]

Swan Valley in Yellowstone National Park, USA

by Sam