Friday, May 19,2023

A decent day.

The wolves at the den were mostly quiet. We would see a pup briefly every now and then.

The real excitement was before I got to the den. At Blacktail Ponds, there was an elk, neck deep in the water, and a wolf, lurking around the edge. The elk tried to get out of the water on the west side of the pond, but the wolf was right there, so it moved to the east side and tried there. After 6 or 8 attempts, it finally got out. It was a large bull elk. It just stood there, obviously tired and cold. The wolf came over and faced off with it. That's where the video starts.

It's kind of long with lots of parts where the wolf is just standing there, looking like it is pondering its options. In a match like this – single wolf and healthy bull elk, the elk almost always wins. Interesting parts start at:

0:18 Elk moves and wolf runs

2:15 Wolf tentatively approaches elk

3:05 Wolf approaches elk again and makes its way past

From there, it just went east, away from the elk.






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