FINAL DAY

Day 30 of WS @ YNP ends the study period:

Today was the last day of Winter Study. Our 30 day period is over, so this will be my last email for the time being. I am planning on being on the crew for the March Winter Study and I hope to have the time to write these emails again. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions, etc...

I wish I could say that we saw something exciting, but we didn't even see the wolves all day. As it turns out, the pack was probably within a kilometer or so of our location but due to the challenging topography we couldn't even catch a quick glimpse of them - fortunately we did get to hear three different howling bouts. It snowed all day today, and was rather cold. But listening to the howls roll down from Rose Creek through the softly falling snow was a great way to end the month. I have no regrets - how many people even get to hear a wolf howl?

Anyhow, I'd like to thank a few people who helped make this Winter Study go smoothly. First of all, my partner Rob Buchwald. Besides collecting all sorts of excellent data Rob is an excellent baker - I especially enjoyed the lemon squares. A big thank you to the Wolf Project Administrators: Doug Smith, Kerry Murphy and Deb Guernsey - all of whom helped on the ground and in the air. Melissa Peale was our (and Rose and Leopold crew's) back-up. Without her Rob and I would not have been able to enjoy our days off. The Rose Creek crew, Dan Stahler and Shaney Evans, were a big help in keeping track of our wolves at times and provided good companionship on slow days. All of the Cooke City/Yellowstone Ecosystem Studies /Coyote Crew folks: Janae Deverell, Sarah Hamman, Sam Blattner and Sean Graham - these folks helped out greatly in providing back-up and locations for us. Wolf guru Rick McIntyre deserves much credit for his insight and help in observation. Rick was a third partner in our crew. Bob Landis, the filmmaker, also helped out in locating the wolves and does an awesome job of educating the public on all things wolfy and wild. Although we didn't really work with the Leopold Crew, Susan Chin and Amy Jacobs, they deserve kudos for their effort as well. The students who we are collecting data for, Dan McNulty, Carrie Schaefer, Dan Stahler and Amy Jacobs, deserve much credit for bringing about a better understanding of our wild canids. Thanks also to the American public who had the foresight to restore wolves to the Park and other appropriate areas of the West. Lastly, but definitely not least, thanks to the wolves, coyotes, elk, bison, ravens, magpies who allowed us to watch, observe and learn from them.

See you all in March!

Cheers, Tommy Z