Wyoming’s Whopping Wildlife

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Are you sick of wildlife yet? Well, if you are, then you’re probably someone who tortures puppies for fun and, thus, not someone with whom I’d like to associate. And if you are that person and you’re still here, then you’re just going to have to endure ridiculously cute photos of all the mammals we encountered while bopping around Yellowstone. There was the elk duo we spotted near Tower Falls, but we also saw many elk flying solo during our days driving the park’s various corridors.

There were the goats—a whole family of them—who entertained us for many minutes near Boiling Springs.

There were chattering chipmunks and swift ground squirrels, pretty much everywhere.

There was the adventuresome and ferocious Maltese warrior…oh wait, how’d she get in here?

There was the baby black bear…but there were also grizzlies. We heard about a mom and her cub who were frequently seen near where we were camping at Fishing Bridge. We drove around the area each night praying for a sighting but came up empty. That’s how it always is, though, isn’t it? The second you’re not looking for anything in particular is when you’ll find something awesome. Which is how we came to spot three grizzlies—each on its own, in different parts of the park—throughout our stay.

See this guy? In the bottom right hand corner? I could have watched him roll around in the snow all afternoon!

On our way back to Fishing Bridge the final day, there was another grizzly in a meadow, digging furiously in the snow (for critters maybe?). One thing that definitely came in handy in locating these camouflaged creatures during our Yellowstone visit was SVV’s super-powered binoculars. (My zoom lens was also helpful in spotting far-off wildlife that my eyes couldn’t see.)

But by the time we were leaving Yellowstone, we still hadn’t seen one animal I’ve always longed to spot in the wild: a moose. We were driving south through the drizzle toward Jackson when we came across a herd of sheep tourists cluttered along the shoulder of Highway 287. We knew it could only mean one thing: something really cool.

Moooooooose!

And wouldn’t you know it, not only was it our moose, it was a mama moose with a baby—no older than a couple weeks—wobbling along beside her.

The best part of the encounter? We found out our exact location was Moose, Wyoming.

It doesn’t get much more coincidental than that.

COMMENTS
  • June 29, 2011

    When I first looked at your moose photo, I thought, Ohh letdown. No antlers!

    But then, you reveal mama moose has a BABY in tow! Baby animals take the cake.

    • June 29, 2011
      Kristin

      Babies beat antlers any day!

  • June 29, 2011

    Oh, wow! You got so close! I love the elk… and the mama moose with her baby! The last photo is definitely my favorite 🙂

    I can’t wait to go to Yellowstone, but it’s not quite on my travel radar yet!

    • June 29, 2011
      Kristin

      I know what you mean. If it weren’t for this road trip when we were already going through the area, it might have been another decade before I made it there. Definitely recommend it for when it eventually makes your radar =)

  • June 29, 2011

    Is there anything cuter than baby animals? I think your pictures proves that no, there is not.

  • June 29, 2011

    Um, the running baby moose is ADORABLE! Love! I’ve seen Moose in our mountains here fairly often, but I missed them in Yellowstone. 🙁

    xox

    • June 29, 2011
      Kristin

      Well, it was my first time EVER seeing a moose! Jealous you get to see them in your own backyard =)

  • June 29, 2011

    GRIZZLIES! BABY MOOSE! I am officially jealous.

    • June 29, 2011
      Kristin

      I guess they don’t have either of those running wild in Santiago, eh? =)

  • June 29, 2011

    These are great phoots. I was floored at the number of bears I saw in such a short period of time. Keep an eye on that dog, though…

  • June 29, 2011

    I’m so jealous that you got to see a baby moose! I hope you’re done posting pics of wildlife now, or I might have to stop coming back. =)

    • June 29, 2011
      Kristin

      I know that you of all people just absolutely hate animals, so I hope I didn’t offend 😉

  • June 29, 2011

    I have the same lens as you and I love it for the exact same reason! It’s been extremely handy for highland cow spotting here in Scotland. But bears and um, mooses (what IS the plural of moose?)… you can’t beat that!

    • June 30, 2011
      Kristin

      Moose is just moose (I think!). Also, I am EXTREMELY jealous of your cow/coo encounters. You have no idea!

      • June 30, 2011

        You’ll have to check back next week… I have a crazy video to post of the Coo Call we perfected. I’ve never seen animals respond so extremely!

    • December 19, 2011

      This is what we need – an isighnt to make everyone think

  • June 29, 2011

    Baby moose! That really made my whole afternoon!

  • June 29, 2011

    Baby moose–so cute! We saw a bunch of moose but no babies. Baby moose FTW!

  • June 29, 2011

    That baby moose is just too cute! Love it. The first time I saw a moose was in Alaska, while I was visiting a friend. This friend lived on the Air Force base, and the moose just came strolling into her backyard, nibbling at the tree bark. It was amazing. My fun fact about moose is that their hearts weigh as much as a bowling ball. (Or was it a cannonball? Hmm…one of the two, anyway.)

    • June 30, 2011
      Kristin

      I have been to Alaska and all over the American and Canadian Rockies and this was my first moose sighting! I didn’t know that their hearts weighed as much as, erm, some kind of ball, though. =) Learn something new every day!

  • June 29, 2011

    Not sick of all that wildlife at all! I ‘ll never see moose in my backyard so I’m enjoying the virtual view.
    I’ve travelled through the jungle most of my life as that usually gets me home, and I finally, finally spotted a cat this last weekend. No, not a tiger but a leopard and I for one am not complaining. I’ll have to thank the bison for that as I think the young leopard was stalking them. 🙂

    • June 30, 2011
      Kristin

      A LEOPARD IN YOUR BACKYARD?! Can I come live with you for a few days (until the allure wears off and the fear of a cat stalking me out on my patio sets in)?

      • June 30, 2011

        Unfortunately (or fortunately?) not! This one was spotted in the jungle – the one I have to travel through to get from the city to my parents place in the hills. That backyard (in the hills) has monkeys(no langurs though),wild boar, bison(Indian gaur) and yes, leopard’s too, but I’ve never spotted a cat there myself.

        Btw, the cousin’s place I was staying at this last weekend is surrounded by jungle, so the backyard boasts of wild boar, elephants(electric fences mean nothing to them), tigers(who leap over those electric fences), leopards(they love the trees I hear), deer, peacocks,bears etc. Feel free to gate crash the party of your choice. 🙂

  • June 30, 2011

    Oh my goodness! You are making me want to take a hike. GREAT pics!

  • June 30, 2011

    Great post and awesome pictures. I have seen a moose with a calf before, but never this young. Really cool that you saw this sight in the town of Moose. Sometimes they appropriately name places. Reminds me of a time I canoed on Alligator Lake in the Everglades. It was also well named as we shared the waterway with over 9 alligators.

  • June 30, 2011

    I could never be sick of wildlife, I want more!!! Awesome shots!

  • June 30, 2011
    Mister Sister

    my niece is definitely the cutest out of your little wildlife set of pictures..

  • June 30, 2011

    These are great photos!! Your like a National Geographic photographer!

  • June 30, 2011

    I would never tire of seeing wildlife. Never seen a Griz, yet.

  • July 1, 2011

    Totally love that you finally saw a moose in Moose!

  • July 3, 2011

    You had me at ‘grisly bear in the snow’

  • July 6, 2011

    Baby moose! Baaaaaaby moose!

    (I like the baby moose.)

  • July 12, 2011
    Briel K.

    Baby Moose! So cute!

  • April 20, 2012
    Kristine

    Kristin-
    We really should compare some stories someday. One of our kids’ favorite expressions is “Mooooooose!” simply because Louis yelled it while in the Tetons driving around looking for wildlife (in particular Moose). We saw the cars on the side of the road first and there was a baby involved, although older than the one you saw. Brings back memories. We only spend 5 weeks traveling, 1 was fairly stationary in Butte, Montana for a conference and we rotated tent camping with hotel stays. Of course we flew across the country with our camping gear and all of our clothes in our carry-ons. We went in May/June and definitely didn’t see as much snow as you did! Thankfully.
    Cheers!

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