Why wait until summer for adventure and romance? The
height of wolf mating season occurs at the same time as
the peak of romance for humans: Valentine’s Day. Join Hank
and Carol Fischer for a long weekend in Yellowstone Park and
treat yourself to some of the best wolf viewing
opportunities of the year.
By February winter snows have concentrated huge herds of
elk and bison in Yellowstone's valleys and multiple wolf packs usually
are visible. We’ll
have exceptional opportunities to watch for predation,
but the real bonus at this time of year is the interesting
behavior associated with wolf courtship activity. It’s like
a high school dance: you’re never quite sure who’s going to
show up with whom. We’ll look for wolves that are
rubbing noses and grabbing each other’s snouts as new pairs
form. Oftentimes the males dance around the females, wagging
their tails and lowering their front quarters in exactly the
same way as a playful dog. The female may then place her
paws, head or neck across the back of the male. And from
there...
We
plan on packing a lot of fun into four days. In the
mornings we’ll go out in search of wolves. We’ll hook up
with Dan Hartman, a nationally-recognized Yellowstone
photographer who will lead a seminar for us on winter
photography and we'll get together with Dr. Jim Halfpenny,
a wildlife biologist and a tracking expert. We’ll strap on
some snowshoes (we provide), find some stories in the snow
and cast some tracks.
Now for the human romance: on February 14 we’ll have a
sumptuous Valentine’s Day dinner at Chico Hot Springs,
Montana’s only four-star restaurant. We’ll spend the evening
soaking in the hot springs, and the next morning you have
the choice of going for a dogsled ride, enjoying a great
massage or just sleeping in. We’ll have you to the Bozeman
airport by afternoon.
Dan Hartman photo
d bison in Yellowstone's valleys and multiple wolf packs usually
are visible. We’ll
have exceptional opportunities to watch for predation,
but the real bonus at this time of year is the interesting
behavior associated with wolf courtship activity. It’s like
a high school dance: you’re never quite sure who’s going to
show up with whom. We’ll look for wolves that are
rubbing noses and grabbing each other’s snouts as new pairs
form. Oftentimes the males dance around the females, wagging
their tails and lowering their front quarters in exactly the
same way as a playful dog. The female may then place her
paws, head or neck across the back of the male. And from
there...
We
plan on packing a lot of fun into four days. In the
mornings we’ll go out in search of wolves. We’ll hook up
with Dan Hartman, a nationally-recognized Yellowstone
photographer who will lead a seminar for us on winter
photography and we'll get together with Dr. Jim Halfpenny,
a wildlife biologist and a tracking expert. We’ll strap on
some snowshoes (we provide), find some stories in the snow
and cast some tracks. 
