turf

This morning Wendie got word at the Visitors Center that there was a wolf close to the road halfway between Mammoth and Gardiner. On my first drive-by I only saw a coyote, so an hour later I went by again and this time saw what all the commotion was about. About 120 feet from the road, feeding on a fresh elk kill, was one of the Canyons.

He was sharing the carcass with a mess of ravens

It took him a while to get use to all the people snapping his photo but soon he was posing for the cameras

(We went back later in the evening and tried to videotape him pulling the carcass out of the river. If it turns out, we'll post it tomorrow.)

After the wolf jam, I headed to Gardiner to go for a run on the track at the high school. It was snowing a bit and there was about a 30 mph wind so I figured it would be easier to drop 800 feet in altitude and do laps than run up and down the hills in the Park. All was well for about 2 miles until a young bull elk decided the track was his turf.

He gave me the what-for on my first two passes, but on my third lap by him he left the football field and literally chased me off the track.

Needless to say I had to finish my next couple miles running the Old Gardiner Road and the road near the Roosevelt Arch. I could only imagine what Claire would have done to this guy if he had the gall to eat the SportsTurf at WHS or leave his mark on the running track...

...probably something like the wolf did to the elk he was eating.

After dinner, went to check out the wolf again so Wendie could see it, and then we drove up the hill behind our house. Wendie was delighted to find out this is a great place to see rabbits (or more likely, hares). We spotted four including this guy

Luckily they were all too quick for Wendie to catch and bring home to live with us.