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This week’s Find the Animal Friday comes from Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. I believe it is on the easy side of moderate, but I am also known to be able to spot wildlife quite easily, even whole driving. In the picture, see if you can spot a bull elk grazing. trust me, it is there.
About the picture: It was early February and I was hanging out in the park in the early afternoon, waiting for a snowshoe tour around the Upper Terraces to start. My client was flying in and driving straight to the park, but a snowstorm had delayed him slightly, giving me some time to just sit back and enjoy the sights without feeling the need to do too much. After checking out the conditions on a few trails that I also offer tours on, I headed back to Mammoth and parked near Liberty Cap. One has cell service here and I had arranged with my client to give me a text or call when he got to Gardiner, Montana. I also enjoy taking timelapse’s of the steam off of Palette Spring, so sitting here was advantageous for multiple reasons.
Learn More About Liberty Cap here!
As I watched people walk the short boardwalk to take in the view of the spring, snap a few pictures and walk back to their car in the 20 degree temperature, I noticed a huge bull elk in the distance, slowly grazing for food beyond the boardwalk. As people walked the boardwalk and back, I also noticed that nobody else was seeing the elk. I changed that quickly. As a man was walking back to his car, I jumped out and asked if he had seen the elk. He hadn’t and after I pointed it out, he walked to the end of the boardwalk and took a few pictures of it. He then told others who were walking the boardwalk and soon, everyone who was taking in the sights of the thermal wonder also had a great wildlife sighting, from appropriate distances. It brought me a lot of joy to see.
Which is why I also wanted to share this picture with you all. Sometimes, it pays off to look around when wandering the park, not just to see the cool features to which you are enjoying, but to also see what else could be nearby. Sometimes it will be an elk. Other times it will be a bison or an eagle. Occasionally, it may even be a bear of a wolf out in the distance. But you’ll never see it unless you take the time to look all around and scan, just in case something is there.
As always, click on the image for a much larger view.
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