BIG SKY EDITION
The Monthly
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The Splendor of Yellowstone The First National Park opens April 17 for Summer Travel
April/May 2015
IN THIS ISSUE Page 3
Big Sky Town Center
Page 5
Big Sky Medical Center
Spring is often called Yellowstone’s “quiet” season, where few crowds and little traffic offer a much more intimate experience of America’s first national park. It is a time of renewal and rebirth as late winter storms give way to warmer temperatures and sunny days. It’s a time of birth when visitors can smile at the antics of playful bison calves or peer into the pines for the first elk calf of the new year. If you’re lucky, you might glimpse a wolf cub, accompanied by brothers and sisters, venturing outside its den for the first time. Spring and early summer bring some of the best wildlife spotting opportunities of the year. During this time, bears will scavenge for winter-killed elk and bison, road kills, and carcasses more recently left by wolves and cougars. Yellowstone’s roads and entrances open on a staggered schedule during the spring. The northernmost road, from the North Entrance to Northeast Entrance at Silver Gate, and Cooke City, Montana is open all year. However, this road remains closed to east/west travel just east of Cooke City until Memorial Day Weekend (weather dependent). You can also travel from the north entrance east through Tower Junction and on to Lamar Valley. Lamar Valley is famous for its spring wolf watching as the northern packs range the valleys on hunting forays to provide food for new pups. During the spring months, some of the 300 northern Yellowstone bighorn sheep migrate from the backcountry by Electric Peak over to the Tower Falls area. Early morning often brings the sight of a group of ewes with lambs at the top of the canyon across the river, silhouetted against the morning sun. Antelope fawns also appear in Lamar Valley in late spring. They can be spotted easily in the open prairie
areas. During early June, does generally deliver twins weighing between five and nine pounds. The antelope take advantage of ditches and other low-lying areas that are protected by small hills. May brings bison calves and jams on the roadways. Bison begin calving in mid-April and by May you can start to see hundreds of bright reddish-brown calves among the bison herds. The bison gather in traditional “nursery” areas such as Fountain Flats, just north of Old Faithful, or in areas along rivers, such as Lamar and Hayden Valleys.
Page 6
Big Sky Meadow Village
Your chance of spotting a bear improves if you understand where they feed and when. Grizzly bears are stronger than black bears, with larger shoulder muscles and longer, straighter claws designed for digging. Their spring diets consist of the winter-killed carcasses of elk and bison, elk calves, grasses and sedges, dandelion, clover, spring-beauty, horsetail and ants. Black bears tend to feed in and next to forested areas and clearings. Their shorter, more curved claws are best for climbing, not digging. They often climb trees looking for food sources such as nuts. Black bears feed throughout the day, while grizzlies are more active at dawn and dusk, or at night. The best locations to spot black bears include Tower Falls, the Lamar Valley and roads around Roosevelt Lodge. Grizzlies, on the other hand, are spotted more frequently between Canyon and Fishing Bridge, northern ranges of the Park and in the Mount Washburn area. Later, as temperatures warm, you can more easily spot grizzlies in open meadows, wet areas and along streams. (continued on page 3)
Hunting & Fishing Under the Big Sky inside this Issue.
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