We arrive near Junction Butte at the pullout with restroom … the Junction Butte pack’s den is on a slope north of the road facing south (steep hill, former coyote den, squared by four sets of evergreens) and a kill on the south side of the road where we saw two blacks and maybe one gray last night. The south side of the road is where the pack has been feeding on a kill/carcass below Specimen Ridge about 1 ½ mile(?) away. When ravens had fun with them, that’s when the wolves would poke their heads up either for a break or taking a snap at the ravens. I could see them with Bob’s good glasses and could really see them with the Swarovski scope he rented / was lent. Whoa … just checked out the tag price at $2500! (I think these were members of the Junction Butte pack.)
Glad there are black and white wolves, grey wolves are almost impossible to see! They are like ghosts against the landscape this time of year. We also saw their den via Bob’s knowledge of where it was and the Swarovski scope. The mom poked her gray head out a few times, but nobody was really coming out.
Bob was telling me about the folks who have changed their lives to include a month or more of wolves. (Bob, for one! But Wendy, Rick McIntyre obviously, a couple from San Diego, and so many more.) This was also the first time Bob had a scope and thus had more time to share the scope and what he knows with those around him. Filming and the photography equipment doesn’t lend itself to the same dynamic with people.
The Surest Sign 