Tour to Lamar Valley on Wednesday August 27th 2014

Our last tour before leaving Yellowstone was Lamar Valley.  We saw more animals there in about five and a half hours than in the previous three days and had several bison jams ~! ! ! !  

Remember, we have to keep in our vehicles or at least 25 yards away.

The bus stopped many times to look at animals and/or features.  We stared and stared at these rocks looking for the mountain sheep that are supposed to be there.  Giving up, the bus pulls out and goes around the corner to find this mom and her baby right next to the road!!  So cute, they were in about the same place when we came back down the loop road...

Not a real good picture as it was taken out of the bus window but this is a pronghorn antelope.  We only saw them on this tour.

We learned some very interesting information about wildfires from our guide.  They have a very hard time with the media coming front and center to those kinds of events.  This is what the huge fire of 1988 looks like now.  The park does NOT fight fires except in the area of human and building protection. As a matter of fact she told us that the lodgepole pines need the heat of fire for the seeds in the pine cones to pop open and start to germinate.  After a forest fire approximately one million seeds per acre will be on the forest floor.  The park service feels that fire is necessary to get rid of the old trees that will die and give a start to the new, young ones as well as the grasses for the animals.  

We attended a Ranger led presentation about wolves in the park.  WOW, what an eye opener.  He was very good at presenting how every animal is connected to every other animal. 31 wolves were re-introduced into Yellowstone in 1987-88 and they now feel like there is a balance of nature in the park.  The park has taken kinda of a hands off policy in regards to trying to control animals now.  They neither take care of the sick nor give extra feed. It is really survival of the fittest.  This was also very interesting in that the outdoor auditorium was in "prime grizzly" territory.  The Ranger turned out the lights so that his slides could be seen.  A little nerve racking as we had been told several times to not go out at night and to make lots of noise! ! !  A couple people wanted to go to the edge of the Yellowstone Lake which was just behind the Visitor Center right next to where we were.  They were advised not too..   Sure happy when we were safely back in our car !!  Off to Cody tomorrow..