MY NIGHTLY WILDLIFE MOVIE

Often early in the morning and late at night I hear the mama elk call for their calves. They have quite a few vocalizations but one particular sound, somewhere between a bark and a squeal, signals Mama is looking for Junior. I hear that sound and I am suddenly very aware that I am in Yellowstone National Park.

One of my favorite pastimes here in Yellowstone is watching the interactions among the elk, the Rangers and the public. I usually watch this activity right out of my second-story dorm window in the late evening when cars park perpendicular to the curb in long lines just like in a drive-in movie right in front of the lawn the elk like to browse at night.

The elk dine on the irrigated lush green lawn on the other side of the street and then head for the protection of the adjacent sage flat for more camouflage for the night. The public just loves to snap away at this tranquil scene – Mama Elk browsing, Baby Elk nursing with a stunning background of mountains.

Elk are very protected creatures here in Mammoth, as are all living creatures in the Park. When a cow is ready to give birth, she usually isolates herself.  At Mammoth, cows like the relative safety of areas adjacent to the Hotel, the dorms or the guest cabins because they instinctively know their calves are protected there against their main predators – bear, coyote and wolf. The elk benefit from the Rangers’ mandate to protect not only the elk but also the bear, coyote and wolf – and of course the public - by chasing them away from very public areas.

Once a calf is a few days old and can trot beside Mum, the elk will often move over to the sage flats where she can stash her defenseless baby as she forages. The calf’s spotted coat acts as camouflage and its natural instinct to remain completely still keeps it safe from predators. After the calves grow a bit, the female elk recombine into a small herd. The lawn across from my window, the elk’s favorite browse in the evening, provides a great drive-in nature movie for the tourists.

The other night, the evening light was perfect and the elk were being particularly film-worthy. Mamas were browsing up and down the lawn; the light brown calves were quietly lying together in a rough circle. One young calf (male I’m just sure) was springing around his mates trying to entice them to play. He would spring right in front of one of his mates, nudge his buddy with his nose but to no avail. The curled up calves were having none of it.

A junior male (I had not seen him before) with velvet on his still fairly unimpressive rack kept straying quite close to the stupid tourists who were out of their cars and on the lawn, having decided they needed to film closer to the herd. I think Junior knew he was responsible for doing something to protect the herd but he clearly just didn’t know what or how to do it. But he was very, very anxious.

No matter how unimpressive his rack, his presence was definitely a danger to the tourists. The female elk, although not as dangerous as just after giving birth, were also a concern. The Rangers’ mandate to protect the animals includes trying to keep us humans from disturbing their natural behaviors. A Ranger told me a good rule of thumb is you are too close if your presence changes the animal’s behavior.  An ear twitch, a lifted head – these small signs mean they have detected your presence. In other words, back off buddy.

That night, the Ranger was really earning his keep, patrolling up and down the line of cars, directing people back to their cars or at least further away from the herd. As the bull became more agitated, so did the Ranger. The junior bull prowled the line of cars looking for a fight. The Ranger took off his orange safety vest and flipped it at Junior in an attempt to move Junior away from the cars and tourists and back into the herd. Junior looked at him as if to say “Really? This is my JOB…I’m pretty sure.” The Ranger and Junior both held their battle positions for a good while.

Some of the tourists took the hint and moved back into their cars – or they used the open doors of their cars as shields against attack. It reminded me of a scene from Toro! Toro! Sometimes I wish I could be more compassionate toward the tourists, but really, can’t they READ? Signs all over the place alert them to the dangers of getting too close to the wildlife. W I L D  L I F E.

Regardless of their inherent danger to the public, all animals and even the fish in Yellowstone are protected by law. Not by the Endangered Species Act although one species in the Park, the Grey Wolf, is listed as endangered. In 1894, a full 22 years after the Park’s creation, Congress passed the Yellowstone Game Protection Act, declaring “That all hunting, or the killing, wounding, or capturing at any time of any bird or wild animal, except dangerous animals, when it is necessary to prevent them from destroying human life or inflicting an injury, is prohibited within the limits of said park….”

And so we have bears and wolves and elk and moose and 63 other species of mammals as well as 16 species of fish, 6 species of reptile and 4 species of amphibians (Yellowstone NP website) here in the Jewel of the Crown of our Park system. And no matter how incredibly diverse and beautiful the landscapes of Yellowstone are, the public comes for the animals. They want to see uncaged animals acting naturally – or as naturally as animals can under the scrutiny of John  and Jane Q Public.

The Publics come to see bears dipping their giant paws into the stream to catch fish. They come to see wolves hunt elk herds in the Lamar Valley. They thrill at watching Mama Elk give birth. They stop in droves along the road to watch bison….well being bison. The very act of the public being here, though, changes the same natural behaviors they hope to see. It is one of the National Parks’ biggest dilemmas.

I get to witness this play out almost every night from my dorm window. I realize how very special these few months in Yellowstone will be. I already recognize I see Yellowstone differently although I have been here several times before. Somehow, my feeling that this Park is MY Park is growing. I feel more protective of ALL of our National Parks, ALL the jewels in the crown.

Come. Come see the animals. But do it with the knowledge that your very presence changes the behaviors of the wild animals. Walk softly. Speak softly. And whatever you do, respect the animals’ wildness. We don’t WANT them to become tame. We, the public, really honestly want our wild animals exactly that – wild.