In the last column I wrote about the majesty of Yellowstone and how the park’s animals such as Bison and Bighorn Sheep eked out a living in the depths of winter. In this column I would like to concentrate on the rock stars of Yellowstone National Park–the wolves (Canus lupus).

No animal has the allure and mystic quite like the Gray Wolf. It’s a top predator that represents the ultimate in wilderness and all things wild. However, it’s also an animal that is near and dear to our human hearts because of our close relationship with the wolves first cousin—the domestic dog. 

Back in March of 1995 and again 1996, a total of 31 gray wolves were released into the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in an effort to re-establish wolves in the park. This was the last piece that completed the ecosystem puzzle. Since then the wolves have taken their rightful place at the top of the food chain and have flourished. Today they are doing extremely well.

I’ve come to Yellowstone during winter specifically for the wolves. Over the past week I have been watching and photographing several of the wolf packs. It’s mating season for the wolves so the activity within each pack is at a fevered pitch. Each day a new drama unfolds before me.

The main pack I am following has seven members. Four females and three males (four are black and three are gray). The alpha male, who is black, is busy attending to the alpha female but when the alpha female is laying down or not around the alpha male is also mating with the subordinate females. If you know anything about wolf biology it is only the alpha female that is suppose to breed so to see this kind of extra curricular activity is very interesting. It just goes to show that these animals are not wind-up toys with a set script of behaviors. I like this unpredictableness of nature. 

As I mentioned, the alpha male of the pack is black with silver highlights. His yellow eyes stand out from his black fur like two beams of sunlight. He is easy to tell apart from the other black members of the pack. He holds his tail high and seems to be spending all of his time moving around and visiting with the other pack members. He doesn’t seem to be getting much rest or eating very much. For days I watch as the alpha male spends all of his waking hours chasing after the females in his pack.

Over the past three days I have been watching the alpha male mating with all the female members of his pack. Then on the fourth day everything changed. About mid-day a lone male wolf, gray in color, that had been hanging around in the valley for several days charged into the pack and challenged the residing alpha male. For the next three hours the two fought and chased each other.

When all the fighting and chasing was done the black alpha male was driven off and the new gray male took over as the pack leader. It was stunning to witness. Also, knowing this was not something that was seen on TV in some far away and distant land was also thrilling. It happened right here and right now.

The ousted male moved about a half mile away to another ridge. He climbed to the top of the ridge and stood on a snow covered rock. Bathed in the last sunlight of the day, he stood there and howled across the river valley back to where his pack was located. As the sun set he began to trot down the side of the ridge right towards me and the road. I moved forward to get some closer images. He paused at the side of the road, turned and starred at me, then crossed the road. He ran through the deep snow on the opposite side of the road and made his way up the hill.

It was obvious where this wolf was heading. Three days before his pack killed an elk, and he was heading directly for the remains. He trotted up to what was left of the carcass. For the past couple of days the Black-billed Magpies, Ravens and Coyotes have been picking at the carcass. The male wolf trotted over and picked up one of the hind quarters as if it was a chew toy and began to trot off with it.

He carried the hind leg of the elk about 300 yards to the base of a very large rock in an open field and set it down. He looked around in all directions before he settled down and started to chew on the leg. In my mind I could hear what the wolf was thinking. “I need to start to eat right, exercise regularly and in a couple days I will be going back to flight the new gray male and win my pack back”.

It was now very dark so I started up the truck and began the long drive back to town. What a magnificent day. Until next time…

All of this was swirling through my head recently while photographing a beautiful adult male American Badger. Although the American Badger looks similar to the European Badger, and the Honey Badger, it is not closely related to either one. American Badger is found in open grasslands of the western states and the open pine forests of the Midwest and mid-Atlantic states.

The badger is a member of the Mustelidae family, which means they are in the same family as mink, weasel, otter and wolverine. These are a diverse group of carnivorous mammals that have elongated bodies, short legs, short round ears and thick fur. Apart from the Sea Otter, all of these mustelids have anal scent glands that produce a strong musky smell that they use in marking territories, attracting mates and more.

Some of the more notable characteristics of the American Badger is its stocky body with very short and powerful legs. They have huge sharp claws on the front feet that measure upwards of two inches long. They use these claws to dig in the ground which also explains why they are often found in areas with sandy soils.

Until you get up close to these animals it is hard to judge their size. Measuring nearly 3 feet from nose to tail, the male badgers are slightly larger than females. Larger males are fairly common in the world of mammals, not so much in the avian world. I think it’s their short legs which gives the illusion of being smaller than they really are.

Badgers make a living by eating smaller animals that also live underground, such as Pocket Gophers, Ground Squirrels, Prairie Dogs, mice and voles. They usually dig to pursue their prey, often taking upwards of an hour to dig enough to trap their prey in a dead-end tunnel. A badger’s over all body size and shape makes them exceptional digging machines.

Once while I was out photographing the endangered Black-footed Ferrit in South Dakota, I came across a badger that was in the process of digging into a Prairie Dog tunnel. It was about 2 in the morning, and I had to use my flashlight to illuminate the larger tunnel that the badger had dug. About 5 feet down was the badger who just turned to look at me, then growled and snarled at me then turned and kept on digging. It took only another minute or so until it had dug enough to cover himself and disappear into the ground in pursuit of its Prairie Dog prey.

Another time I was very fortunate to witness an American Badger teaming up with a Coyote to hunt in tandem. The two hunted a prairie dog town like old and familiar friends who knew each other so well that they didn’t have to say anything to each other. The coyote would sniff each entrance hole to the prairie dog burrow and the badger would wait. They would switch off back and forth checking each hole until they decided which burrow they would excavate. The badger would quickly start digging and the coyote would wait at the nearby emergency exit hole for the prairie dogs to come out.

In one study of the amazing pairing of predators, it was found that most pairings were one to one, while 9 percent had two coyotes to one badger and 1 percent had three coyotes to one badger. The study also found that the benefits to the coyote were a 33 percent increased catch rate of prey. The study didn’t mention any increase benefit to the badger.

Another study showed that the sight of the coyote sent ground squirrels into their burrow and the badger could see which hole they went into making it easier to dig them out. This would give the badger a distinct advantage by helping to corner the prey.

I admit I don’t come across a lot of badgers in my travels so when I do, I usually spend extra time just to study and capture as many images and video as possible of this amazing hometown critter. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and capture images of wildlife. He can be followed on www.instagram.com and www.facebook.com. He can be contacted vis his web page at www.naturesmart.com.