Yellowstone Wolf Update:
Dispersals from the Druids. Will 104M join the Crystal Creek Pack?

(9-17-98) rev. 9-21

Druids move south. Are there dispersals to Crystal Creek Pack?

The big Yellowstone news is the potential dispersal of two of the yearlings from the Druid Peak Pack.  The Druids have abandoned the Lamar for the time being and they are located in the Sulfur Hills area just north of the Pelican Valley and fairly near the Crystal Creek Pack.  Moreover, no 104M, the big black Druid yearling with a white patch on his throat, has been tracked with the Crystal Creek Pack.

Most wolf watchers have regarded no. 104 as a potential alpha from the start, and the Crystal Creek pack just lost its alpha male, number 6 in a natural mortality. All of the pack are sons and daughters of no. 5F and 6M. Moreover, no. 6 was 5's son, born to her in Alberta. As the new guy, no. 104 may be in a good position.

Another possible disperser is Druid yearling female 106F. She did not move south with her pack. She instead moved to the northwest into Slough Creek Meadows, which would be a prime location to meet potential dispersers from the large Rose Creek Pack.

Update: a group of Idaho State University students saw four wolves near Soda Butte (2 black and 2 gray [one very light gray]) apparently being chased by a pack of coyotes at about 7:15 a.m. last Sunday morning, Sept. 20. So perhaps at least part of the Druids are back in the Lamar Valley.

Number 16 finally enters the Park.

In other Yellowstone wolf news, single mother no. 16F, who whelped her litter about ten miles north of Yellowstone, has finally brought her pups to the Park. She is located in Cottonwood Creek, a tributary of the Yellowstone River near the north boundary. In the recent overflight, Yellowstone wolf team head, Doug Smith reportedly saw five or six of the pups with her. They had grown enough that it was hard to visually distinguish them from her, so as a single parent she seems to have been able to provide them with ample food.

---