Special Yellowstone NP Tour

Today about 18 women took a tour of Yellowstone NP. This was arranged by Renee Evanoff, a local artist, and Jim Evanoff, Environmental Manager for the park.The elk are in rut now and we watched a magnificent bull elk herd his harem and bugle his call. Other bull elk were in the vicinity, but they were younger and smaller and would have been no match in a fight to challenge the big guy's claim to the females.

~~~~~ This bison found a good scratching post. ~~~~~

Jim informed us that the Yellowstone bison have bigger humps between their shoulders than the bison of the plains. During the harsh winter, they have to move their massive heads back and forth to clear the deep snow so they can find food. This causes a build-up of the muscles that support the neck.

Visitors aren't allowed to remove anything from the park, so it was interesting to see several huge elk antlers laying on the ground from the annual shed or from the remains after the death of the animal. Smaller animals chew on these for the mineral content, so it's an important part of the eco-system. There are about 57 different types of beetles that feed off an elk carcass, and only one is a meat eater. The others eat different things, such as the micro-organisms that appear during decomposition.