Day 10 Winter Study YNP:

Today was very slow as far as wolves go. We didn't receive so much as a single ping on our telemetry and due to high wind speed our flight was cancelled. Just where the wolves are presently is unknown, possibly up the Lamar River somewhere. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit more fruitful...

Rob and I did take advantage of the lack of wolves to conduct our elk count. There was a herd of elk near the Lamar/Soda Butte confluence that numbered 370 members, mostly cows.

The awesome event of the day was conducting yet another hike up on top of Specimen Ridge. Joy! The snow depth is hovering around 2 inches or so. We went with the project leader, Doug Smith, to find a kill the Druids made a few days ago. There wasn't much left; calves usually get cleaned up fairly quickly, if not by the wolves themselves then by the scavengers. We found the mandibles and a pile of rumin - that was it. There were wolf and coyote tracks everywhere. We accessed the kill by following a trail that the wolves had used. Whenever I walk on a wolf path I feel energized, as if I am taking part in thier lives. Although we didn't find much in the way of data, we all enjoyed the hike. Something about open expanses of grass and sagebrush, with a brisk wind and the temperature around 15 degrees makes a person feel alive, especially when the area is alive with the movements of predator and pray.