Top three animals spotted by North Carolina teachers while traveling through Yellowstone in winter?

Survey says….

#1 Bison
#2 Coyotes
#3 Common ravens

Top three animals that North Carolina teachers want to check off their list while traveling through Yellowstone?

#1 – Gray wolves 
#2 – River otters 
#3 – The elusive ermines 

Our day started with breakfast at 5:30 am and then a pass through the Roosevelt Arch before the sun was up.

We have learned that spotting wildlife is not for the faint of heart — patience is definitely a virtue in this line of work! We made several passes through Lamar Valley looking for wildlife, spotting many coyotes along the way. But the real star of the show this morning was how the ice glittered across the valley as the early morning sun rose. Our most impressive find was a bison carcass that had been picked clean by predators and scavengers. Our group made passes across the area like crime scene investigators, looking at every bite mark and clump of hair. It was truly learning brought to life for us.

We moved through the park and made our way to Silver Gate to meet with acclaimed naturalists and wildlife photographers Dan and Cindy Hartman. Mr. Hartman spoke with the group about his work, especially photographing and filming great gray owls and pine martens. The group thoroughly enjoyed time bird watching around the Hartman’s home.

We finished our day animal spotting. No luck with wolves, but we did catch another look of the mountain lion and her cubs on the side of Mount Everts and saw herds of pronghorns and bighorn sheep outside of Gardiner. 

The group also took a dip in the Yellowstone Hot Springs, a local place that utilizes heated water from a hot spring in its pools.  Another full day. Fingers crossed that we can mark more animals off the list tomorrow!