I had a long talk with Dan Stahler of the Yellowstone Park wolf team on Sept. 24. He gave detailed information on his last tracking flights. The latest was Sept. 21.

Druid Pack-

Probably the biggest news to wolf watchers is that the struggle in Druid Pack might be over.

On Sept. 21, Rick McIntyre told me that more and more of the pack was showing up back in the Lamar where 302M and 286F had pretty much remained most of the summer, and 253M wasn't among the wolves that had returned.

Stahler confirmed that on Sept. 21 the following wolves were seen together in the Lamar Valley: 286F, leading the pack; 302M, the uncollared wolf McIntyre calls "the new black," 255F, 374M, 375F, and 3 pups. Later, 376F, who denned separately this year near the Pack's rendezvous site, came down off the Mirror Plateau and joined the 9.

That left 253M, 349M, 350M, 348M, and maybe some pups somewhere else. The radio signals from these wolves has not been picked up for 2 tracking flights. One possibility is they have left the Park and are to its east. These are all male wolves, 348, 349, and 350 are yearlings.

Leopold Pack-

The Leopold Pack was always a stable and fairly large, multi-generational pack, at least after several years had passed from its founding in early 1996. The separate deaths of the original alpha pair 2M and 7F in 2000, however, clearly has changed things. Ever since a never-collared, large gray wolf became the alpha male and several alpha females (presently 209F), the pack has had multiple litters with a high pup survival rate. Despite numerous dispersals, the pack slowly keeps getting bigger.

On last Tuesday's flight, Stahler saw 21 members of the pack all traveling together with more of them likely nearby.

The pack had 12 new pups last spring. This number has been observed many times since. Some reports have seen 14 pups. This figure would make the pack size 27.

This growth after the demise of the original alphas seems to me a bit like the growth of the Druid Pack after 40F was killed in a fratricide. Of course, the Druid population explosion was more extreme.

The Leopolds are often hard to see out on the Blacktail Deer Plateau, but recently observers have been able to see them from the road near the Children's Fire Trail area.

Swan Lake-

On the 21st, 8 Swan Lake wolves were seen near Mt. Everts near Mammoth Hot Springs. Earlier this year there was speculation  that this formerly very large pack had no pups in 2004, but then some tourists stumbled onto the den area and saw 5 pups. The wolf team itself has still not seen these pups, but inspection of the den site indicates that about 5 pups is correct.

Some folks might recall it was a disperser from this pack that was hit on I-70, west of Denver, this summer.

Geode Creek-

Nine Geode wolves were seen on the 21st. It is estimated the current size of the pack is 13, with 6 adults and 7 pups. Originally the pack had 11 pups from a double litter.  Two wolves currently have radio collars that work -- black wolf 353F (the only black wolf in the pack) and 391M. The alpha female, veteran 106F, wears a non-functioning radio collar. She was seen on the 21st regurgitating for a pup. The identity of the current alpha male is not known. The pack has gone through several alpha males in the last 2 years.

The pack was in lower Hellroaring Creek.

Rose Creek-

After this summer's rediscovery of the pack, it was tracked on the 21st in upper Hellroaring Creek, north of the Park, deep in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. The exact size of the pack is not known, but the collars of 150M and 190F, presumably the alpha pair, work.  They were not visible in the timber.  The pack is suspected to have a litter of pups.  Of course, at one time this pack was the dominant pack on the northern range.

Slough Creek-

The Slough Creek pack has been mostly north of the Slough Creek campground, often in the side drainages, but occasionally south (below the campground) on the flats. The pack had a litter of 9 pups. Recently 4 or 5 have been seen. There are just 2 radio collars in the pack.  One is on 377M, a 4-5 year old male, and 380F, a little black female. Hers is a GPS collar which is scheduled to pop off soon for retrieval (of its data).

Two radio collared members of the pack have gone back and forth between Slough Creek and Mollies Pack, but for the duration of the summer, and at the present, 378M and 379M have remained with Mollies Pack.

The pack has about ten adult members. So the total is 14 - 15 wolves

Specimen Ridge Pack-

This is the name given the new pack composed of 194M, the "U-black" (formerly a Druid) and their litter of 5 pups. They were last tracked on the north end of  the Mirror Plateau, but that was 2 flights ago. Stahler said perhaps they were near Canyon or even in the upper Pelican.

Agate Creek Pack-

8 members of the pack were seen chasing a bull elk. The elk got away. 113M (originally a Chief Joseph pack wolf) is still the alpha male. The alpha female is not collared, but is recognizable to observers. The pack had 5 pups. Pack members are mixed collars (black and gray).

Nez Perce Pack-

The pack is believed to be eleven wolves at present with just 2 pups. The alpha pair still seem to be 48F (recollared last winter) and 70M (the last survivor of the Sawtooth Pack pups brought to the Park in 1996). Recently the pack has moved mostly between Mary's Mountain (on top of the Central Plateau) and Nez Perce Creek, which flows to the west, finally into the Firehole River).

This pack has always been an all gray pack, and recently several gray (one white) wolves have been photographed on a carcass in Alum Creek (Hayden Valley). Stahler says these may be a Nez Perce sub-group or maybe a new pack. There have been unconfirmed reports of pups and supposedly a den (although it may have been a coyote den).

Mollies-

The Park's most hard core pack (my opinion), Mollies has 6 adults (including the two new wolves from Slough Creek Pack) and 4 pups (5 were in the litter, but one has disappeared). The alpha female 174F had her leg broken in a 12 hour battle with a bison in March 2003. Nevertheless, she continued to lead the pack with her limp and has raised two litters of pups since then. Stahler said she no longer limps.

Her mate is 193M.

The pack has been in Pelican Creek and Astringent Creek where they have killed a number of bull elk, often losing them to the numerous grizzly bears. It also appears that some of the biggest of the grizzlies have learned how to take down bull elk by themselves.

I always think of Mollies as "hard core" because of the fierce competition with the grizzlies and necessity of living off of bison in the winter.

Yellowstone Delta Pack-

In recent flights this large, remotely located pack has been in sub-groups -- in the Delta area of the Yellowstone River, further up the Thorofare, and quite a way to the west at Delusion Lake, where they lost a kill to grizzly bears.

The pack was observed to have 5 pups this year.

It's hunting season in the Teton Wilderness area of the Thorofare where many of the outfitters don't like wolves, bears or hardly anyone else, according to Tim Ferguson's book "Hawk's Rest."

Bechler Pack-

The Bechler Pack was in Bechler Meadows, SW Yellowstone,  a bit north of Bartlett Slough.

Four members of the pack had collars, but 2 have been chewed off, but not the one on the big white alpha male, 192M. This big guy was born to the Rose Creek Pack, but founded the Bechler Pack.

340F (Old Faithful, Biscuit Basin)-

This probable new pack was not located on the last flight. 340F has the only collar, and, according to Stahler, she is often in places where the signal is hard to pick up.  Examination of the den showed a lot of puppy scat, but the number of pups or the pack is not known, although 7 members is likely. If the pups survive, this might be named "Old Faithful" pack, but more likely "Biscuit Basin Pack."

Gibbon Pack-

This new pack has at least 4 members, including 2 pups, but probably more pups than that.  They are sometimes seen on expansive Gibbon Meadow, but are more often in the timber or the smaller meadow on the east side of the Madison Jct. to Norris road.

Cougar Creek Pack-

The pack is very hard to observe because they live in the meadows and dense regenerating lodgepole pine stands near Cougar Creek, Duck Creek, Maple Creek. Pups have been visually seen one time. There were several.  There are, however 4 radio-collared adults.

The most interesting observation was that Stahler has maybe picked up the radio collar presence of 301M (302's brother) in the pack; and in fact there is a large black wolf seen (the wolf is getting a little gray). Folks will remember that black 301 and 302 showed up in Druid territory in the winter of 2002-3 and several of the older Druid females traveled with and mated with the 2 brothers (from the Leopold Pack). Both 301 and 302 went back to the Leopold Pack, and 301 then disappeared, but 302 persisted on the margins of the  Druids for 2 winters, and might now be the alpha male.

Snake River ?? wolves

The Snake River begins just south of Yellowstone Park, high on the Two Ocean Plateau. It flows into the Park and courses near the south boundary for many miles before leaving at the South Entrance. There have been reports of as many as ten wolves in this area (perhaps Yellowstone Delta wolves? or not).