Yellowstone, Day 5: Wolf Pups and a Very Playful Grizzly

Animal Tallies

Animal	Today	Trip total
Wolves	7	21
Bears	7	23
Coyotes	0	3
Moose	0	0

Another early start with Wolf Tracker, and absolutely worth the 5 AM pickup. Our guide, Michael, was excellent. He brought scopes, food, and a plan, and knew the park, the animals, and the particular wolves and bears we were watching. Highly recommend.

At 5:30 we saw a black bear cub. At six we spotted signs of Rick: his car beside the road and people, possibly Rick, standing on a nearby hill. More roadside black bears followed, including a particularly photogenic male at 6:30.

At 7:45 we watched a grizzly hunting ground squirrels or frogs. I couldn’t tell which, but we got close views from three angles.

From eight until 9:25, we watched seven gray wolves: five pups playing, one babysitter, and an adult arriving with food. A male black bear wandered into view while we were looking at the wolves. Bonus bear.

We bumped into Taylor Rabe, a wolf scientist Ksenia follows on Instagram, and talked about cartoons.

Then we spent an hour watching Raspberry and her cub. They were close enough to see clearly with the naked eye, and the cub was very playful.

Lunch was back at the food trucks and Blue Goose Saloon. I tried the turkey sandwich this time. Really good. Inside the bar, locals were putting a shelf together, or watching. Mostly watching. Good vibe.

We were still full from lunch at dinnertime, so that settled dinner.

Part of our June 2024 Yellowstone and Grand Teton trip. Trip summary.