SLEEPING BEAUTY

Up Close and Personal with a Baby Elk

The day started out great, but ended with an experience we shall not soon forget.

It was nearing 7:30 PM as we headed home to Gardiner. We were really looking forward to a big hot meal after spending a long day in the park. A mile or so south of Mammoth in Yellowstone National Park, we spot a momma elk and a wobbly legged calf. After comparing notes, we believe it's the baby elk who had been born earlier in the day that we passed by on our way to Lamar Valley.

My husband, Rick, was driving Earl and Carol Sue's car and slowed down as the pair crossed the road. Momma pushed on into the tall sage just on the other side of the pavement in front of us but baby didn't want anything to do with it. She wobbled back onto the road and headed straight for the car, so Rick stops to ensure the baby's safety. We all fully anticipated her to get scared by the big, noisy, metal contraption and return back to her mother, but she didn't, and continued walking our way.

Before we knew it, baby sniffed the front of the car on the passenger side, then the tire, and despite momma's alarming calls, she decided it was time to take a nap against our tire!

We were perplexed! We had never been in a situation like this before. We yelled "boo" and "scram," but she wouldn't budge! We knew not to touch wildlife in any way whatsoever, so nudging her was out of the question. We thought momma would eventually come and get her but she continued eating grass a few feet away from us with a watchful eye.

Sleeping Beauty from my view out of back passenger-side window.

Sleeping Beauty had placed herself under the car next to the passenger tire. We were stuck and couldn't move, nor would we move for fear of harming the little one. We made the best of it. Within a few feet of Earl in the front passenger seat and me sitting behind him, we had a front row view to a beautiful, new-to-this-world, living creature.

Shortly, we heard cars stopping behind us and people walking up to the car. Rick and Carol Sue got out on the driver's side to inform them what was going on and to direct them away from the baby. Some asked questions, others took photos.

About 20 minutes later we realize we aren't getting out of this anytime soon and we have created a traffic jam! I make a call to 911 and Dispatcher Steve asks, "What's the emergency?"

"I'm sorry I called 911 because I'm not sure if you would consider this an emergency. But there is a baby elk sleeping next to our tire and we are stopped on a main road," I reply.

Dispatcher Steve chuckles and says, "Yes, this is definitely an animal emergency!" Steve gathers our location and vehicle description and says a ranger will be in route soon. He was so good natured and calming, assuring us we did the right thing.

The view from the back of the car on the driver's side.

More time passes and our stomachs are now growling. We surmise that by the time we get out of this situation, the restaurants will be closed and the big hot meal we had planned will not happen. Not only will we be denied an enjoyable dinner, but so would all the visitors caught in this unique traffic jam - often referred to as an animal jam in the parks.

And, boy, did we receive some dumbfounded stares and nasty glares as onlookers drove by. If they couldn't see the baby elk, they hadn't a clue what was going on and probably called us a stupid tourist. Or worse, if they did see the baby elk under our tire, they probably thought we hit it. I would have paid high dollar for a sign that read, "We did NOT hit the baby elk. It's sleeping!"

Not only did the ugly stares concern us, but momma crossed the road away from her little one. Okay, the truth is only us girls were concerned. The boys tried to assure us that momma will come back, but she had walked so far away, probably due to the traffic congestion.

An hour after this all started, Ranger Joe drives up, surveys the situation and tries the "boo and scram" yelling technique we found useless. Rick and Carol Sue light-heartedly tell him we already tried that and he laughs and shakes his head. He moved on to a ranger's next priority - the first ensuring animal and human safety, of course - and began directing people back to their cars and moving the traffic jam along.

The road finally clears allowing Ranger Joe to work his traffic directing skills to get us out of our wildlife emergency. Using dynamic hand gestures and vocal commands, he directs Rick to drive forward a little bit, wait, forward a bit more, wait, turn the wheel, forward just a bit more, and then finally we were able to clear the spot we had occupied for over an hour without any harm to Sleeping Beauty.

We were all amazed that the movement of the vehicle didn't state the baby; she didn't move one inch. While it may not have phased her, it was a bit tense for the rest of us, I must say. Plus, I was concerned that momma would leave her baby behind. Just before completely leaving her behind, I asked Ranger Joe if momma would come back for her baby. He assured me she would.

Later that evening, I discovered a voice mail from dispatcher Steve informing us that the ranger wanted us to know that 5 minutes after we left, momma came and got her baby and they walked off into the sunset.

Ahhhhh! Relief!!! As awesome as it was to be two feet from a wild newborn elk, I hope to never experience that again!!!

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Alicia White is an Award-Winning Speaker and Photographer. Each year since 2006, she and her husband Rick travel to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks to photograph the stunning landscape and amazing wildlife. To see some of their photos, please visit: www.facebook.com/YellowstonePhotos

Yellowstone Day 2 6/1/11

Yellowstone Day 2 6/1/11

Couldn’t sleep a wink the night before so we didn’t get out until 7am. We decided we would visit West Yellowstone today, but first made our way from Mammoth through the east loop going as far as we can before the road closes towards Roosevelt. The sky was blue and the sun bright. An absolutely glorious morning!

We saw the typical bison and elk and came to the road closure turned around heading back. I saw “something” and asked Rick to turn around and just as he was gloating “I told you that was as stump,” a coyote emerged right next to that stump, the stump I had him turn around for. I guess I got lucky on that one and teased him that I saw the coyote the whole time.

We watched our first coyote of the season make his way through Blacktail Lakes coming along the ponds. Got some good captures of him sailing through the air and chomping on his morning meal. He wasn’t too close but I think what unfolded next offered an overall picture of Mother Nature at work. He walked along the edge of the bank and found a treasure trove of eggs and devoured them like a kid digging into chicken nuggets on a buffet line. We watched as the helpless ruddy ducks, geese and other water fowl honked and called out and swam in circles in an attempt to distract him but it was much too late.

As this was going on a sand hill crane flew in from the south. I took a couple of shots but what transpired next was hilarious. I didn’t think to bring the video camera out, but I think the long distance wouldn’t have done it justice. This poor crane was harassed over and over again by a black bird. Mostly the one gal was nagging at him but then a second would come in and sometimes a brown bird. Then the geese had to honk at him and scoot him on his way. Watching this big lanky bird dodge and duck from his attacker was the most ungraceful yet hilarious sight.

I could have watched this area all day long but West Yellowstone was calling, we hadn’t had breakfast, you know. So as we are heading down the west loop, we see some folks who tell us a large grizzly was heading from the South Twin Lakes to the North. We hoped back in our Jeep and we both found spots and set up and got some nice shots while sharing stories.

Back on the road and now more hungry than ever, we didn’t eye anything passed the Twin Lakes other than bison and elk. But that’s okay, we filled up on a delicious breakfast at Outpost and headed back home for nap. Not before stopping to see four baby lambs in Mammoth. We got front row and center as these babies and their moms stepped out from the river onto the road. Even got one nursing. Not too bad on this glorious day!

This evening we were able to access Lamar Valley after being closed since last Saturday due to a rock slide. It was fairly quiet visitor wise and animal wise. We saw a large Grizzly on a hill, some big horn sheep and a badger. That was about it! Off to sleep for another exciting day in Paradise Park.

Yellowstone Day 1 5/31/11

Yellowstone Day 1 5/31/11

We headed out the door at 7am and since our route to Lamar Valley was closed due to a rock slide at Blacktail Plateau we decided to go to Hayden Valley and Fishing Bridge. Not our first choice, but, hey what can you do?

We drive through the west upper loop searching for bears that others reported seeing a few days ago but didn't find any. I spent my time enjoying the fresh snow that had blanketed walls of snow still standing from the winter season.

We reached Hayden and marveled at the sparkling white stuff and eventually parked ourselves with others to look at a grizzly sow with two juvenile cubs and a little further off another sow with a cub. I took pics of the three and not of the two. Though I could see her through a scope it certainly wouldn't have been a pretty photo.

We moved on down to Fishing Bridge and visited the gift shop. I had read days earlier of several bear sightings east of Fishing Bridge so we headed there. As promised we joined several other photogs at Sedge Bay.

We got some good pics and since the bear, a sub-adult male, was moving on, we decided to head back home but not before moving down the road and sitting for just a moment. Good thing we did. The bear came our way and within 60 yards or so put on a show!

He found a very old carcass and proceeded to dig, roll over, chew, gnaw and dig some more. He certainly entertained the crowd. After an hour or so we headed back.

Later in the day we went back out again past Fishing Bridge and came up on the grizzly sow with cub. It was kind of a mess so we weren't able to get too close while she nursed. I did take an obligatory pic. (photo cropped)

We thought she was heading into the woods so we packed up planning to go past her and further down the road but she was "right there!" We unloaded again and barely missed her standing. We stayed with her until she started coming towards all of us and we all hightailed it to our cars. She didn't cross the road, and since the light was poor we packed up.

Here is a look of the pond with snow covered Yellowstone Lake and mountains in the background.

Badlands Day 2 – 5/28/11

Badlands Day 2 – 5/28/11

This morning I went to the park without Rick. Not sure why he had problems getting out of bed at 5:30am but oh well. His loss. But really there wasn’t much to see. I got a cool shot of three deer and some nice looking spires.

After breakfast, we headed through the park and into Wall, South Dakota. WE had been here once before. It is a curiosity… shop? No. store? Not quite. Downtown? Yep, the entire downtown is made up of a bunch of Western wannabe gift stores and cafes and bars, and on one side is the largest gift shop/mall/curiosity/shops attraction you’ve seen. They have an old-timey pharmacy, bookstore, of course, gift shops of every kind. They host the largest Jackalope, display Indian and Cowboy photos as well as stuffed animals of every kind.

We thought one visit three years ago was enough, well, I guess not. We walked up one side of the street and down another. We were actually on a mission to find t-shirts. We did not. So we had some lunch, I enjoyed an Indian Taco. Pretty dang good. Imagine a taco salad but instead of a flour shell, it is Indian flat bread.

Later in the day we traveled back into the park to try our hand at more sunset photos. I think we succeeded. The spot we choose is known for its yellow mounds near Dillon Pass. The yellow and reds just pop against the blue sky in the daytime and give off a saturated hue at dusk.

Oh, I almost forgot, I guess because I don’t have a photo of this. It was another day of turkeys, but only this time about a dozen of them. And they weren’t standing around either. Nope. They were FLYING! You heard me right. We headed up a hill, and swooshing fast and furious over head were about a dozen wild turkeys sailing through the air. Completely caught us off guard; a sight we’ll likely never see again. If only I had a photo so people would believe us.

Photos to be added soon.

Badlands Day 1

Badlands Day 1 – 5/27/11

The visit to Badlands actually began the night before. We hoped to get some sunset shots but rain clouds hindered that. However, it did make for some dramatic photos.

The next morning even though the sun woke us at 5:30am, we rolled back over and slept in. We ate a hardy breakfast, petted the cats and took the dog out for a walk and then off to the park. We were greeted with bright sunny skies and a few clouds.

Rick wasn’t finding his “perfect” shot, but I tried to get in a few of the tall spires and landscapes of these harsh looking surroundings. We stopped at different spots, sometimes I didn’t even bother to get out of the Jeep because what I wanted to shoot wasn’t the location we would end up at. There aren’t many pullouts and narrow shoulders so getting “that” shot was proving difficult.

We did, however, come across our first wildlife sighting: big horn sheep. We knew they were here and we finally got to see them. Babies from last year were prevalent along with their mothers and aunts. We also spotted some bison and pronghorn and the ever growing colonies of prairie dogs. Some of these dogs posed nicely for me while others ran away.

Wild Turkey. No not the drink. The bird. We saw a wild turkey in the park at Badlands and saw four just outside of the park as we were going back in. Just the day before, I saw two near the road as we were driving. And of course there were lots of deer in and outside the park. On the way out of the park this evening we saw a big owl in the tree but it was too dark to get a photo and to tell what kind. Maybe we will see him tomorrow and a bobcat or ferret.

Rick captures the different colors in this landscape as the sun sets.

Circle of Life

Sun. Crisp wind. Soft clouds, Blue sky, Green growth. When you add all these things together it stirs my memory of my days in Yellowstone. And today, Wylie, TX brings this to me. I long for my visit to Yellowstone. My heart literally aches to be there especially when this kind of day triggers those very distinct memories, like watching a mother otter rescue her pups from a quickly rising river. Or watching a three year old grizzly bear that I had met for the first time two years prior when she was one of three cubs hanging close to her momma’s side. This particular year, though, she was on her own. Curious of all the photographers before her, she approached us; coming within feet of me. I can’t explain the exhilaration but it included tears of pure joy.

I also look back on the hard facts of wilderness. Over a few days, we kept an eye on a mother moose tending to her calf even though she had been severally injured by a predator. I have photos of the mangled mom allowing her newborn to milk. We rooted for her to make it. We hoped she would beat inevitable the odds. But she didn’t and both she and the baby succumbed to life’s cruel reality.

Circle of Life, they say.

Circle of life indeed. Today, I was scouting out wildflowers. This nothing new and is one of the circles in my life, taking photographs of wildflowers. I enjoy talking photos of flowers because I respond emotionally to the color and shape of a flower. Not in a drastic sense but I do appreciate the simple or intricate shape of a flower and the color that they produce. For example, my favorite wildflower is the trillium. Three simple leaves, three simple petals. Color ranges from pink, mauve and white. Another favorite is the Lupine, whether it be the stellar Blue Bonnet or the yellow and white cousins.

So, I’m taking photos of the flowers along a field. I am always cautious of where I step and place my hands and today is no different. Except this time as I’m peering into the tall grass to see how I can compose my next shot of a flower, I hear a distinctive hiss! Well, you’ve never seen a fat woman jump back and run to the truck as I did at that moment. I’ve heard this sound before, another circle in my life. It was a snake of some sort, I just can’t decide if it was a hognose or a rattler. Either way, my heart is pounding out of my chest.

When you grow up in Arkansas with a dad and cousins who like to shoot, you end up going to very snakey environments. We have walked miles over the bayous in Central Arkansas. Yes, I have even shot snakes along the creeks and Arkansas River. And there really are only two distinctive sounds, the shot of a gun and the slither of a snake. Trust me when I say the sound of a gunshot piercing the air does not frighten me! There is something about that slither though that will send chills up your spine and to remain for several minutes. You thought you were aware of your surroundings but you now second guess that and become even more aware.

After catching my breath, I got to the OTHER side of the road and continue taking photos. I hear a hawk fly overhead and I see he has a big catch in his mouth. Perhaps it’s a rodent he got from the field I was just standing in. Either way there is another circle of life. From the mouse to the hawk from the flower to the bee, Mother Nature has her way of keeping balance.

And that’s where I get discouraged. You see I’m walking long a field that is next to a busy highway. Earlier that morning I was parked next to a dirt road with a nice green belt leading to a neighboring city. Soon, this field and that green belt will become concrete and metal. It’s not Mother Nature’s plan, it’s man’s decision. I wonder with sadness, where do these creatures go to live? Today I saw tracks of a bobcat and a raccoon. The other evening I saw a live skunk near the green belt. Where will they run to when the fields begin to clear when the road becomes a major thoroughfare? Where will this hawk find his next meal?

Don’t get me wrong I’m not a tree hugger. But I do feel genuinely sad about the destruction of the existing green spaces. Our local society does not value these green spaces. The only green this society values is the kind that displays the portrait of Benjamin Franklin.

Is there not a balance we can achieve? I don’t have an answer, shocking, I know. But if I had millions of dollars I could see purchasing this land and keeping it as a greenbelt. I’d be known as the crazy animal lady, but I’ve been called worse over time. How do we find balance between man and Mother Nature? Can it be achieved?

Randomness 2

Why do people promise you one thing and then do another? For example, a person in one of my networks says he wants me to be his graphic designer then a week or two later announces at a meeting he is getting new brochures made by another graphic designer.

Really? So what's the deal? Do I stink? Do I not laugh at your jokes enough? Maybe I laugh too much? I know my work is stellar so that can't be why. But why be just a big ol' fat flake about this? Don't ask me to join your network and then build up these promises and then not deliver. It's bull.

Yea, I'm mad about it. And it's times like these that I honestly HATE networking. I don't make promises I can't keep. I don't give people false hope. But you wouldn't believe how many people say "I'll call you tomorrow about this." Or "Oh my gosh I so totally want to do xyz" and then nothing. DON'T make promises. DON'T tell me one thing and then do nothing. STOP being a flake in business.

Well crap. I really didn't want to vent about my business on this blog but that's just part of life I guess, so whatever. Sometimes I just want to crawl up in a ball and never put myself out there. Sometimes I wish I could just be a beach bum and live in Belize or somewhere. (There's not so many hurricane there, well, actually Costa Rica would be better).

Actually, just the other day Rick and I talked about packing our stuff up and moving to South America somewhere. We even talked about learning Spanish. We are thinking of taking a class. I'm so lucky to have a man who doesn't mind putting up with my crap and my nagging. I don't mean to nag but there are about 5 days out of the month in which I do and we live through it. Rick is a great guy. Love him so much. He's the kind of guy that does not dance but will go to a dance club with friends so that I can dance. Everybody say "awww."

Speaking of friends. Went to a fantastic party at the Hemphill's. Joel cooked up some delicious brisket and sausage and frijoles. Everything was so good I could have ate all night long!! Got to sing karaoke with my singing buddies, Tamo, Mark, Wendy, Jimmy, Nikki, Maria, and dance and laugh. I love partying with these friends. They really know how to raise your spirits!!!

I love karoking. I sing Lady Gaga songs pretty darn well. At our Halloween party last year, I was dressed like Medusa. Half way through the night, I asked Joel to play three Lady Gaga songs in a row. I went upstairs and put on my Lady Gaga outfit. When the first song began playing I came down the stairs singing her song and put on a little show!! Everybody seemed to really enjoy it!! I'd so do it again. Imagine a long haired fat Gaga. LOL Oh here's a pic so you don't have to imagine it. :D