It is our second day in Yellowstone, we were able to see a lot of wildlife. Although we are still competing with our first days experience.  We were able to see mountain goats and Pika.  Seeing Pika was a great experience,  they are very small and fast animals.  They live on a loose rock face that was a lava flow. Within the park there  are five isolated populations that are all genetically isolated as well.  What is also significant about this species is that they are a keystone species, as temperature increases they must move to higher elevation. If temperature continues to increase due to climate change they could effectively run out of suitable habitat forcing then into extinction.

One of the most eventful moments of our day involved a Coyote.  We were stopped at a rest area where a trail-head had been closed due to a young person being bite by a acclimated coyote.  Rangers were present as well as another group.  An individual was reading a sign and was then walking back to his vehicle, all of a sudden this coyote was hot on his trail.  As we were in the van getting ready to leave we witnessed this taking place, and begin to alarm this individual of his new “friend”. Rangers quickly came armed with bear spray.  (At this time I wondered the true effectiveness of bear spray because the coyote seemed to be unfazed.)  While the rangers sprayed the animal it actually lunged at them, soon after we were instructed  to leave the area.  We believe that the animal was dispatched but this is not confirmed.

We were reminded today of Yellowstone’s wildness, but interactions can result in poor consequences for both humans and wildlife due to poor decisions of a few.