Suddenly, whether due to rearrangements in canid spaces following wolf-reintroduction, other reasons, or serendipity, red fox sightings in Yellowstone are becoming a regular thing for me after years and years of never seeing a fox in the wild, there or anywhere. They are among my favorites, among other reasons, because compared to coyotes and even wolves, their markings and body types and sizes tend to be very individual.
We caught this one on point; the loud CHIP of the ground squirrel was simultaneous with the pounce. The disappointed fox did a 180 and trotted off from just up from the base of Bunsen Peak, across the road, and westerly out of sight over Gardner's Hole. I count it among the most beautiful animals I've ever seen.
The photo* is of a very relaxed black bear, taken just south of Upper Terrace Drive, Mammoth, WY (Yellowstone National Park), on Saturday, June 16. This guy doesn't look like much of a threat snoring away up there in the tree, though I guess he could fall out on your head as you hike, oblivious, below...
And in other news...my favorite bear, grizzly sow #399, let some guy have it last week . I am sorry he had to suffer the pain and indignity of "lacerations to his backside" but he lived to serve as a reminder that as beautiful and watchable as #399 and her big brood are, and as much as she is is inclined to hang around roads and lodges, she is still a real, and a serious, bear, rising to the occasion when she feels she or her cubs or their food is threatened.
*Not my technically best, sorry, but you get the idea.
