Monster Bighorn Rams - Alberta, Canada

Here are two huge Rocky Mountain Bighorn Rams. To get this large, these rams have evaded trophy hunters who would pay up to $200,000 to shoot one of these rams. This insanity of placing such high prices on these sheep encourages poaching and needs to stop. I prefer to see bighorn rams like this out in the wild rather than seeing their heads hanging on some hunters wall.

Many Bighorn Sheep in western states die when they catch pneumonia from domestic sheep. Over 400 bighorns have died this year from pneumonia.

I am on the Idaho Bighorn/Domestic Sheep Working Group which tries to resolve differences between the use of public lands by Bighorns and domestic sheep and attended their meeting on Tuesday.

I am not sure we accomplish much as the bighorns keep dying.

I think that domestic sheep grazing on public lands inhabited by bighorns should not be allowed.

Monster Bighorn Rams - Alberta.

Abused Desert Bighorn Ewe - Moab,Utah

A wildlife researcher has captured this wild bighorn ewe and put a radio collar on it so that he can find it easily. I was able to find this animal and the rest of the herd every day for two weeks without the use of the radio collar.
The study is more about getting a graduate degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah than it is to help the bighorns.
The use of this high-tech intrusive research has become an epidemic around the world. Jaguars are killed by researchers in Arizona and Tigers in India are killed by researchers using drugs to capture them for collaring . Wolves and other wildlife are collared in Yellowstone National Park and often die from capture stress and infection. It is time to demand that wildlife is allowed to stay wild without being subject to this abuse.

The bighorn ewe in this picture suffered from being struck in the chin by the large metal box, surrounding the radio components, each time she lowered her head to eat or drink.

Parking Lot "Wolf Research"- Yellowstone National Park

How many "researchers" does it take to record one wolf doing a "Raised Leg Urination"? Looks like at least eight.
This group of people were with the illegally parked vehicle in the previous post. Recognize anyone?
This is recreational wolf viewing disguised as "research" so that these folk can deduct their wolf viewing vacation expenses from their income tax.

Yellowstone Wolf Watchers Illegally Parked on The Grass

I first met the owners of this vehicle several years ago in Yellowstone, when I stopped to ask them what they were watching through their spotting scope. After being told rudely to be quiet, that I would scare the wolves they were watching, I spotted the wolves over a mile away. I could have jumped up and down yelled at the top of my lungs and wouldn't have disturbed the wolves.

These folks are members of a group of people that claim to be researchers and that turn in anyone to the rangers that might get within half a mile of a Yellowstone wolf. They save parking spots for each other and if there isn't room to all of them to park in the turnouts, they illegally park on the grass as my photo shows them doing last fall in Yellowstone.

Wolves Pursuing Elk-Lamar River Yellowstone National Park

The Druid Pack of Wolves try to run down an elk in the Lamar River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. I watched and photographed this event for about four hours last fall. The Elk eventually wore the Wolves out and escaped. She kept dodging and returning to the deeper parts of the river where she could out-maneuver the wolves.

If you look closely(click on the image to enlarge), you can see that the wolves have very little hair on their tails. They are suffering from a parasitic mite disease called mange which makes their hair fall out. Suffering from mange and handicapped by radio collars, this ENTIRE PACK of wolves died of cold and starvation this winter. Some of the loss of life is due to constant harassment by so-called researchers who follow the wolves everyday.

Yellowstone Wolf Biologists seem to be able to chase them down with helicopters and put radio collars on them, but they claim treating them for mange is "Not Natural".

The Yellowstone Wolf population has plummeted from 174 wolves a few years ago to less than 100 this spring. The Druid Pack had as many as 28 wolves a few years ago, 14 adults last year, and now there are none.

Brown Pelican - California

Male Brown Pelicans become very colorful for the spring breeding season. Brown Pelicans on the Pacific coast are more colorful than their Atlantic cousins. I took this photo north of San Diego, California.

More Pelican photos here

Sage Grouse -Indicator Species

You can tell how healthy an ecosystem is by the presence of certain plants and animals. Sage Grouse are one of those species. Sage Grouse have steadily declined in number over the past century. The main culprits in this decline are humans and their activities and their livestock.

They require large tracts of healthy sage brush in order to flourish. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has steadily sprayed and plowed sage brush for the benefit of the livestock industry for the past 50 years. With the decision to not list the Sage Grouse as endangered today, the Secretary of The Department of Interior, Ken Salazar, has just told them to keep plowing and spraying.

The Sage Grouse in this Photo is strutting on a former domestic sheep bedding ground. The bedding ground is infested with weeds from over-grazing by the domestic sheep, which hinders the strutting activity of the Sage Grouse.

More photos here

Sage Grouse Courting Display-Idaho

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior Salazar refused to put the Sage Grouse on the endangered species list today. He said the listing was warranted, but that other concerns had greater priority. In other words, he favored corporate oil and gas development and continued over-grazing of public lands by the livestock industry, over protecting Sage Grouse habitat. President Obama promised change when he was elected, but we seem to have the same type of Interior Department Secretary that Bush had when he was president.

This male Sage Grouse is caught by the early morning sun on a frost covered strutting lek on public lands in Idaho last spring. The lek is covered with non-native dead weeds introduced by the over-grazing of domestic sheep.

I hope that my grandson and his children will get to see Sage Grouse strutting during their life-times. I fear that corporate interests have too much say in governing our land and that many species of wildlife will be endangered in the future.

More photos here

Canon 40d, 500 mm lens

Kissed by Bull Elk Number 6-Yellowstone National Park

Bull Elk#6 was a celebrity in the Mammoth area of Yellowstone. (He has an orange tag in his left ear with the #6 on it) During the rut he spent his time herding his harem of cows around the Mammoth Hot Springs townsite, challenging other bulls and any humans who dared venture nearby. He was famous for charging automobiles and goring holes in them. In the fall of 2008, the unofficial count was 54 cars and pickups gored by #6.

Over the years, Yellowstone Park Staff tried many ways to keep #6 and the vehicles apart. They even sawed his antlers off a couple of times. They eventually settled on using rangers and volunteers to patrol the area and to keep the cars moving anytime #6 was nearby.

A year ago, #6 caught his front feet while jumping a fence in Gardiner, Montana, just outside of the park, and flipped onto his back between some big rocks and was unable to get himself free. I will miss him.

I had a kissing encounter with #6 a few years ago, when I stopped my pickup to let a herd of cow elk cross the road in Mammoth. I didn't see #6 coming along behind the cows until it was too late to start my truck and back up. He rushed to my open window and stuck his cold, wet nose and lips against my cheek. He couldn't get his horns into the window where he could damage me or my truck because of my camper over-hanging the pickup cab. He jumped back when I used my starter motor to start my truck and I got away from him. I had a wet spot on my cheek as I drove away.

I am sure that I am the only person ever to be kissed by #6 and survive. I smile everytime I think about it.

Abused Yellowstone Wolf

The biologists in Yellowstone National Park chase wolves with helicopters each winter and put radio collars on them in an ongoing study that is in its' 15th year. The population of Yellowstone wolves has fallen from a high of 174 wolves a couple of years ago to less than 100 today. Some of this decline is due to the constant stress of being equipped with radio collars and buzzed with aircraft and followed by researchers on the ground every day of the year.

I photographed this black wolf one year ago wearing a GPS collar, which allows biologists to sit in an office and monitor the wolf's travels on a computer screen. The wolf looks miserable with its tail down and dejected manner. Yellowstone is supposed to be a place where animals live wild and free and un-encumbered by man.

Fox of a Different Color-Idaho

Red Foxes come in a variety of colors. This young fox has a lot of black fur and will grow up to be a cross-fox, with a mix of red and black hair . I live in an area with several fox dens and make it a practice each spring to check on each den to see what the latest crop of baby foxes looks like.

Great Horned Owl At Sunset-Arizona

This Great Horned Owl is perched above a kestrel nest box as it surveys the nearby fields for a possible meal.

Sandhill Crane With Ice on Legs-Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Sandhill Cranes roost in standing water. This crane was roosting in very cold water which froze a layer of ice on it during the night. The crane lifted its legs out of the ice and took flight. There is a ring of ice still attached to each of its' legs.

Grizzly Bear- Trying to Scratch Radio Collar Off

I took this photo a few years ago in Yellowstone National Park. Every time I visit the park I see several animals with radio collars. Many wildlife biologists seem to think that wild animals are their own special research objects. They often abuse or kill wild animals in their quest to mico-manage the animals for information that is often only used to write a graduate thesis for the biologist's self promotion.

This bear had to be darted and drugged by a researcher to get this collar on. The darts inject the drug with an explosive charge as it strikes the bear and often drives dirt, hair and other material deep into the wound which causes infection. Two Grizzlies died of infection from dart wounds in the Yellowstone area last year.

This Grizzly was doing his best to set himself free from the collar. Collars provide hiding places for ticks and mites and cause severe itching. I saw and photographed a Grizzly Bear in the same area a few weeks later without a collar. I hope it was this one and that it succeeded in scraping off the collar.

Burrowing Owl-Salton Sea California

I found this Burrowing Owl along an irrigation ditch in California. It was near an artificial burrow consisting of a pipe extending underground to a plastic Box. I usually photograph Burrowing Owls here in Idaho and in some places biologists have placed similar artificial burrows which the owls use to raise their young. These owls often have large families and may raise up to ten babies a season. Generally when birds or mammals have large numbers of young, it means that they are subject to many hazards in life, and they compensate by producing many offspring.

Mule Deer Buck in Snow- Zion Canyon, Utah

Mule deer gather in November for the mating season. Large bucks like this one come to find females and are more easily approached than at other times of the year. They are dangerous at this time and I have seen them severely injure each other during mating battles.

Sage Grouse-Idaho

The Fish and Wildlife Service will be making a decision in the next few weeks about placing these birds on the endangered species list. Sage Grouse need large tracts of sage brush in order to thrive. Overgrazing by domestic livestock and the relentless growth of human populations steadily reduce areas that are suitable for them to survive.I photographed this male grouse on a a strutting ground called a Lek. The males assemble each spring and strut and display on the Lek for about two months to attract the females who come a few at a time to pick a male as a mate. The male inflates the large yellow sacs on each side of his neck, throws his head forward and releases the air in a loud plopping noise that can be heard for some distance.

I set my blind up the night before and got into it while it was dark in the early morning. The males payed no attention to the blind and came close enough to brush their wings on the side of it.

Mule Deer-Injured by Automobile in Yellowstone

Humans have a great impact on wildlife. Some of it good , but mostly bad. When I first saw this deer in Yellowstone, my first thought was how unique its' horns were and what a great photo I would get. As I looked through my lens however I realized that he was injured. I notified a ranger, hoping the deer could be saved, but the ranger determined that it had been struck by an automobile and that it was going to die, shot the deer and took it away.

Coyote With Ear Tags and Radio Collar-Yellowstone National Park

One of my pet peeves is going to Yellowstone and aiming my camera at a "Wild" animal and finding that it is part of some intrusive research project. At one time over 100 Yellowstone coyotes were treated like little clowns and equipped with these radio- collars and tags. (The coyotes were trapped using leg hold traps, that should never be used in National Parks) Park research rules requiring the removal of these collars at the end of the research project were ignored and the coyotes were sentenced to wear these non-functioning radio- collars and ear tags until they die.

Yellowstone is supposed to be a place where animals are wild and free. Some how this coyote looks non- wild, domesticated, and abused.