There are few places on this planet with more beauty and grandeur than Yellowstone National Park. Not only is it a spectacular place but it’s also one of the few places in North America with an intact wildlife ecosystem where all the top predators and all the animals they prey upon still occur and interact in the daily struggles of life. And the best time to witness this predator / prey relationship is in the dead of winter when the snow is deep, the temperatures are bone breaking cold and the nights are long and dark.

That is why I have come to our nation’s first national park this winter. I’m very familiar with this park having been here more times than I can count during the summer but this is the first time I have visited during winter. And I am not disappointed. For the past week I have been fortunate enough to watch and photograph the daily lives of the animals that call this magnificent park home. Here is some of what has thrilled me on this winter adventure.

A typical day consists of rising at 5 AM and packing up all the camera gear and extra winter clothing. I’m on the road hours before sunrise to make the drive into the Lamar valley. There is no time to eat breakfast so a cold bagel while driving is the morning breakfast routine.

Most mornings the mountainous roads have a light coating of snow from the daily snow showers. Each morning as the day brightens it sheds light on the snow capped mountains that surround the valley. In the open meadows of the valley are herds of elk and bison that are bedded down in the deep snow chewing their cud. Often times the animals are covered in a coating of snow.

During the daylight hours I spent hours watching the bison use their massive heads to push the deep powdery snow aside to reach the dormant grass below. It may take several powerful sweeps of the bison’s massive head to push enough snow away to reach what amounts to a tiny tuft of dried brown grass. Of course my mind races thinking about how this gargantuan animal can survive on such a meager food supply. They spend hours and hours plowing snow with its heads just to obtain a small amount of dried grass. How can dried grass be enough to sustain a 1,500 pound or more animal? It’s amazing that any of the bison can survive. And yet they seem to thrive.

The elk have a different winter survival tactic. They climb up high on the mountain sides where the snow wasn’t able to accumulate. Sometimes the elk move to open areas where the winter wind has blown the snow away exposing a few stalks of the dried grass. Sure there may be food at these open locations but it’s also the most unprotected areas exposing the elk to frigid winds.

The daily struggles of the bighorn sheep involve risking life and limb to scramble out onto exposed rocky outcrops that are dotted with slick patches of ice and snow just to nibble a few tufts of dried grass that clings to the rock face. This is where the bighorns find their meager rations of food. Again, I watch and photograph these animals for hours and think how difficult life is for these animals. However, I also can’t image a happier existence for these animals than one that allows them the freedom to live their lives as they are meant to live—in the wild. That thought alone keeps me warm on these cold winter days.

Each day I encounter several coyote trying to eek out a living in this rugged but beautiful winter environment. These critters cover many miles each day in search of a meal. They listen for mice and other small rodents under the thick blanket of snow before pouncing. Many times their meals come in the form of hand-me-downs from the parks top predator—the gray wolf. After the wolves have killed and eaten their fill they leave the carcass for the magpies, ravens and coyotes.

But it’s not the elk, bighorns, bison or coyote that I have come to photograph. It is the parks most famous residents—the gray wolf. Each night under the cover of darkness the wolves are out testing the parks residents and if they are lucky and if the packs skill at hunting is strong, the wolves will make a kill. If not they will go hungry for another day. This is where the real life and death drama takes place in the park.

In March of 1995 and 96, 31 gray wolves were re-introduced into the park after over a 70 year absences. This was the final piece to complete the ecosystems puzzle. I am lucky that each day I have been able to find several members of the parks pack of wolves to observe and photograph. It’s mid February and it’s the height of the wolf breeding season. One morning a female wolf, in estrous, her gentiles stained in blood, was walking around along a snowy ridge stopping now and then to howl. Eventually she sat down and howled for 5 minutes straight before lying down and falling asleep. Several hours later she woke, stretched and continued her journey to the top of the ridge where she met up with the alpha male of her pack and they mated for the next 30 minutes.

So goes the daily life of the wolves in Yellowstone. Next time I will continue my journey into Yellowstone’s complete ecosystem in winter and talk about how these wolves hunt and more importantly the struggles of the alpha male of the black-tail wolf pack.