Anyone have any current wildlife reports?

We will be staying at Colter Bay Village June 2 - 5 and Roosevelt Cabins June 5 - 10. I know my trip is still 2 weeks out, but I%26#39;m wondering if anyone can share where the recent wildlife activity has been this spring?

Thanks,

Lynn

Anyone have any current wildlife reports?

We went on a tour of TNP and the southern part of YNP on Friday and we saw plentiful moose, elk, bison, coyote, pelicans, osprey, a bunch of other kinds of birds (we are not birders), ground squirrels, things that looked like chipmunls. Basically everything but bears. Then we saw a bear on Moose Wilson road on the way to the airport the next day.

Anyone have any current wildlife reports?

Forgot the mule deer! I looked at my map and see that Coulter Village is in GTNP. I am pretty sure we saw elk, moose, bison there by that point. There are bears near Teton Village because we saw one...we also saw moose right by the ski lifts.

As folks have noted on this and your other posts, wildlife is in many places. When you get to the park, you could inquire of the rangers where you might have the best luck for Black Bear, Wolves and Grizzly.

Or, just drive early morning and evening and watch for the scopes. They know!

This Inside Page will be helpful.

For wildlife viewing and photography:

tripadvisor.com/Travel-g60999-c96653/Yellows…

There will be a lot of snow melt happening while you are here which will increase water in the meadows next to rivers and streams. So, watch for herons and sandhill cranes, eagles, ospreys and peregrines along the rivers. We are seeing them along the Madison, Firehole, Gibbon, and Yellowstone.

Otters have been spotted near the bridge to the South Rim of Lower Falls, near Bay Bridge, and Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley.

Bison are on the move with lots of calves along roadways going to different meadows looking for grass, just starting to green in some parts of the park. We have seen many along the Madison and Firehole Rivers, Fountain Flats Drive area. Just starting to go to the Upper valleys, but by early June look in Elk Park, Gibbon, highers areas of Lamar.

Wolves on the move in many parts of the park. Lots of sightings in Lamar area and even other interior areas (between Norris and Twin Lakes just a couple of days ago).

Many bear sightings throughout the park. Primarily Lamar, Tower, between Norris and Mammoth, Mammoth areas. By early June, make sure to drive Dunraven/Mt Washburn road between Tower and Canyon.

By early June, you might see some elk calves. Get up early and you have a better chance of seeing them. 6 AM around Mammoth Hot Springs.

Thanks so much everyone for the tips. We had a fabulous trip last year to Glacier National Park because of tips like this in advance. I know you have a chance of seeing wildlife just about anywhere in the parks, but it%26#39;s always nice to know ahead of time where the most recent and frequent sightings have been in order to increase our chances and save time driving all around.

Yellowstonefan - You must have read my mind! Not too many people mention otters, everyone is primarily after moose, wolves and bears. River otters are my absolute favorite animal. I haven%26#39;t had very many opportunites to spot them in the wild. So I greatly appreciate your tips!!

Honu Ohana - Sounds like you had a great visit to the parks. That%26#39;s quite a list for one day. My husband and I really enjoy birding, it%26#39;s great to hear that you saw a good variety of birds. When we were in Kenya I think we had more fun checking bird species off of our list that we did with seeing the mammals.Of course we enjoyed that too, but we would have never guessed how maginificant all of the birds were there.

Yellowstonefan - Where is Bay Bridge?

I think I meant Bridge Bay...it%26#39;s just south of the Fishing Bridge intersection (south end of Yellowstone Lake). It is where the marina is.

Also, Gull Point Drive (just a short distance south) is a nice road that parallels Yellowstone Lake for a little while. There are some inlets where you might see moose.

LeftyLynn, Good post. I was just wondering the same thing. We will be at Colter Bay RV park the same time you are there. I think we arrive on 1st for 4 days and then on the West Yellowstone. Hope you have a good trip.

John

So glad you asked this question, I had been dieing to ask. We are still one month away so felt silly asking so far out. It just adds to the excitement to hear exactly where these wonderful creatures are being spotted!

Trip Advisor may delete this post since I%26#39;m mentioning another message board. But for anyone that is interested in current wildlife reports...take a look at http://forums.yellowstone.net/ under the trip reports section. There are lots of die hard Yellowstone junkies on this site that write up reports of their day every night when they get back to the room. Lot%26#39;s of good info!!