Bighorn Sheep
Approximately 160 bighorn sheep reside in Yellowstone National Park, with adult rams weighing 175-320 pounds and adult ewes weighing up to 130 pounds. Bighorn sheep feed primarily on grasses and forage on shrubby plants in fall and winter.
North American Elk
Elk abound in the Rocky Mountains and are a common seen in Yellowstone National Park. This big bull was photographed in autumn in the northern sector of the park.
Black Bear Cub
Shy and wary of intruders, a black bear cub glances through two aspen trees. Only yards away in the bushes is a cinnamon-colored sibling eating berries on a bush. Although not visible, the mother bear was surely close by in the woods, creating a potentially dangerous situation for anyone venturing too close.
Conflict Resolution Coyote Style
On a bitter cold February morning, a coyote asserts itself over another for reasons unknown. Yellowstone coyotes weigh from 30 to 40 pounds, stand less than two feet tall and live an average of about six years, although one Yellowstone coyote lived to be more than 13 before it was killed and eaten by a cougar. Coyotes are easy to distinguish from their much larger relative, the gray wolf, by their overall slight appearance compared to the massive 75 to 125-pound stockiness of a wolf.
Monster Moose in the Wild
Deep in the Denali wilderness, a colossal bull moose trots along a shallow creek. Moose in Alaska often weigh over 1,500 pounds and stand over seven feet tall. The moose is the largest member of the deer family and the largest moose ever recorded was taken in the Yukon weighing an incredible 1,800 pounds.
Split Horn Sheep
Sheep occasionally crack or split their horns while digging for roots or foraging for lichens or moss during winter. This Dall sheep in Central Alaska caught a twig in one horn and carried it like a trophy.
Brown Bear Debate
Taking a break from salmon fishing, these two brown bears played together at the McNeil River Bear Sanctuary on the Alaskan Peninsula. Male “brownies” can weigh up to 1,200 pounds, mainly because of their protein-rich salmon diet during July and August. Although normally solitary by nature, they tolerate each other during the salmon runs due to the abundance of food.
Sleeping Beauty
Long before sunrise, a sleeping bull elk rests along the shore of the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park. With a ridge on his backside and the river in front, the elk was fairly protected against predators like wolves.
Red Fox Kits
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a shy, nocturnal omnivore, typically hunting at night, dusk and dawn. It is an efficient and lethal predator, due to its acute senses of sight, smell and hearing. These two kits were photographed in early evening before entering their den in a woodpile in southeastern Nebraska.
Fox Tail
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a shy, nocturnal omnivore, typically hunting at night, dusk and dawn. It is an efficient and lethal predator, due to its acute senses of sight, smell and hearing. This kit was photographed in early evening before entering his den in a woodpile in southeastern Nebraska.
Fox Kit on Woodpile
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a shy, nocturnal omnivore, typically hunting at night, dusk and dawn. It is an efficient and lethal predator, due to its acute senses of sight, smell and hearing. Striking a perfect pose, this kit carefully surveys his surroundings before entering his den in a woodpile in southeastern Nebraska.
Forlorn Fox
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a shy, nocturnal omnivore, typically hunting at night, dusk and dawn. It is an efficient and lethal predator, due to its acute senses of sight, smell and hearing. As if lost in a daydream, this young kit contemplates his future on top of a woodpile in southeastern Nebraska.
Prairie Racer - Pronghorn Antelope
Known for their speed on open stretches of prairie, pronghorn antelope can run 70 miles per hour and spring 20 feet in a single bound. Their chief predators are coyotes, raptors and mountain lions.
Brown Bear Roars
On his way to the river to catch a prize salmon, this big bruin on the Alaska Peninsula established his dominance with a piercing stare and adrenaline-filled roar.
Bull Elk
Bull elk live along meadows and the forest edges and often weigh up to 1,000 pounds. In September and October bull elk “bugle” and lock antlers during the mating season. The bulls show dominance to gather females during the annual rut.
White Tailed Deer in Hoarfrost
Photographed at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge on an extremely cold winter morning, this deer foraged through the frost-covered brush unaware of Bill’s presence. Icicles hung from tree branches and the surrounding woods looked like a winter wonderland, in spite of the 15 degree temperature.
Master of the Hunt
Only hours after a successful hunt, this timber wolf and his pack consumed most of an elk. According to biologists in Yellowstone National Park, an adult wolf typically consumes about one half elk per week. Wolves are near the top of the food chain in Alaska, Canada and now northwest Wyoming and Montana. Persecuted over the centuries, wolves were eradicated in the lower 48 states by poisoning, trapping, shooting and other methods now considered cruel and unethical.
Teton Moose in Pond
Grand Teton National Park is part of the Rocky Mountains, with its mountains rising from the floor of Jackson Hole without any foothills along an active fault mountain system 40 miles long by 7 to 9 miles wide. The area is considered to be one of the most picturesque places in North America and is home to moose, coyotes, black bears, badgers, bald eagles, elk, martins, squirrels and several species of trout.
Yellowstone Bison
Prolific throughout Yellowstone National Park, approximately 5,000 bison meander throughout the expansive landscape of the park year around. Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. In the 1800s, market hinting, sport hunting and the U.S. Army nearly caused the extinction of the bison, and by 1902 poachers reduced Yellowstone’s small herd to about two dozen animals. Bison are true survivors, fending off attacks by predators and the bitter cold Yellowstone winters.
Solitary Journey
A lone bison traverses through sedges and grasses with several ghostly aspen trees in the background. Usually a communal animal, male bison spend most of the year alone or with other bulls – except during the rut, or mating season.
Grizzly on Alert
In autumn, grizzly bears in Central Alaska roam the tundra searching for berries, roots, ground squirrels and other rodents to eat. Grizzlies are large, nomadic and embody the very spirit of primeval wilderness.
Cow and Calf Bison
Bison often meander in small groups looking for a fresh place to graze and rest. In this picture, a bison and her calf wander through open rangeland near Hayden Valley of Yellowstone National Park in September.
Thrill of the Chase
Three coyotes race away after eating the carcass of a bison that fell through the ice of a small pond the night before. Occasionally large animals such as bison and elk fall through ice on ponds because of their weight, especially when the ice is covered with snow and not visible.
William H. Wiley
402-875-1809
bill@wmwiley.com
1221 Rockhurst Dr.
Lincoln, NE 68510
