Animals and Bear Spray

OK. One last post about our trip before we get back to work. It is hard for me to believe that all of our travels and warm-weather fun are over and it is time to get back to work. It has been a near-perfect summer, so we cannot complain. The trip to Montana and Yellowstone National Park was the culmination. I loved the scenery and activities, but honestly I was probably most excited about the wildlife we saw.

We did not see all of the animals we would have liked nor did I get pictures of all of the animals I did see. The mountain goats were the most elusive for me. I saw three of them and did not get a single picture. However, we did see many animals, and I got a lot of good shots. There are a ridiculous amount of pictures in this post, but trust me, I did narrow it down. If you do make it to the end of this post, you will be rewarded with the story of the infamous bear spraying. Do not worry, only humans were injured in the episode!

I got several pictures of birds in flight. I do not know birds well, but I did recognize ravens, hawks and pelicans.

Other birds were on land or water.

Douglas was not with us the day that we saw the bald eagle bathing in the Madison River. It was a magnificent sight.

We also saw deer. There are many near our house in New York, but I still enjoyed seeing them out West.

Horses, chipmunks and otters also caught my eye.

As for animals that are not common on the East Coast, there were a lot. We saw quite a few pikas, but this was the only picture that I got. Those little suckers are fast!

We also saw several hoary marmots. They really seemed to enjoy being photographed because they would sit for the pictures and not move.

I am not sure what these little mammals are. One looks like the fattest chipmunk you ever saw, and the other is similar but without stripes. It also looked similar to a prairie dog when on its hind legs, but I do not know. Does anyone know what these guys are?

I never thought that I would tire of seeing elk or buffalo, but I almost did. It was not exactly that I was tired of seeing them, but the novelty wore off quickly since we saw so many. We saw over a thousand buffalo and at least a hundred elk.

One of my favorite memories was watching this buffalo run down the road and then swim across the river. I was worried that he would not be able to climb the cliff on the other side, but he did not have any trouble at all. When he got out on the other side, he shook himself off like a dog. He was adorable.

I also took several pictures of animal scat. Douglas was puzzled (horrified?) that his wife kept taking pictures of poop. I will spare you the majority, but I do have to add at least one picture. This is buffalo scat near Old Faithful geyser. The buffalo love the geyser basins particularly in winter since the ground is so warm.

My favorite animals were the grizzly bear and the moose. I was not sure that we would see any and was thrilled when we did.

We also saw antelope or pronghorns on our way to Virginia City. Douglas missed these because he was in Wisconsin by then. They were everywhere. My favorite view was when they were running through the rain, but it was hard to get a good picture.

So, those were most of the animals we saw on our trip to Montana and Wyoming. Of them all, this little beast may have been Douglas’ favorite.

Now for the story of the bear spraying. Bear spray is a strong pepper spray; it is used to  temporarily disable a bear that is approaching you. It is not a repellent, although there are many stories about tourists that end up in the hospital because they use bear spray like bug spray. You can imagine how strong it must be in order to disable a bear even for a short period of time. Therefore, it is not something that you want to spray on yourself or your loved ones. Unfortunately, my uncle did just that. You might be asking yourself why he would do this.

Well, he was planning to fish in the area, and he wanted to make sure that the spray worked in case he encountered a bear. The problem was that he tested it outside the open door of the car where we were waiting for him. A waft of wind brought the poisonous particles directly in contact with his beloved family. Three of us jumped out of the car as fast as we could, choking and crying. My cousin Hannah was not as fortunate. She was trapped in the back seat of the minivan, afraid to climb over her father’s expensive fly rod that was blocking her exit. My uncle was able to pull her out the back but not before she had inhaled a good portion of the spray. If you have never experienced bear spray, let me tell you that it is not fun. Our eyes and throats were burning, and our lips went numb. It was a while before we could re-enter the car. “At least it wasn’t too much,” said my uncle whom did not get sprayed at all. Here is a picture of him fishing, blissfully unconcerned with the pain his family was in.

He did get a small taste of our experience later that day, however, and I do mean taste. Hours after we had left the scene of the crime, he was tying a new fly and licked his fingers. His mouth immediately went numb, and it took him a minute to realize why. There must have been a trace of the bear spray on his fingers.

We did not let him live that episode down for the rest of the trip, and I am sure that it will follow him for the rest of his life. My family is brutal that way; we latch onto things and never let the embarrassing stories die. I must add that I share this story in good fun. I love my uncle to death and greatly appreciate all that he has done for me over the years. He gives as well as he takes, so I can be sure that he will get me back for spreading this story around!

Thus, end the posts on Montana and Yellowstone. I hope that you have enjoyed them and urge you to book your own trip to the Big Sky Country as soon as possible.

This weekend I promise to get back to work and the renovation stories will resume next week. I have not forgotten that I still have to reveal the big bedroom secret. It is almost ready for revelation.

Happy Homemaking!