Beth with Vice President BidenLast year I was fortunate enough to see President Obama when he visited Yellowstone National Park. Today, I was lucky enough to meet Vice President Biden during his trip. Biden was touring Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon to showcase the stimulus projects being funded in national parks as part of the Recovery Act. He was almost upstaged by a bull moose who wandered into the Madison River Canyon right before his talk--moose sightings are rare in the area, but the moose politely exited from view before Biden arrived.

Although I am a big supporter of the stimulus funding in the parks, and was eager to hear his message on the topic, I most appreciated when the Vice President deviated from the topic and went off script with a personal story. He told about his trip to Yellowstone with his two sons not long after the car crash that killed his wife and daughters. Yellowstone had helped them heal, he conveyed to us, and I related to his sentiment.  Yosemite, Yellowstone--parks had always helped me heal. The video below captures him relating this story.

For a more formal report on the Vice President's visit, you can read my Examiner article.

Two curious grizzly bear cubs gaze at onlookers in Yellowstone (Photo by Beth Pratt)Wolves usually rank as the “rock stars” of the wildlife world in Yellowstone, but this year the undisputed animal celebrities are a grizzly and her four cubs. Grizzly bear sightings are common in the park, but this rare ursine family has been spotted almost daily in the vicinity of Swan Lake Flat, just south of Mammoth Hot Springs.

Today the mother and her large family rewarded early morning wildlife watchers by making an excursion in close proximity to the road. Visitors could clearly view the cubs playing and climbing on their mother without using a spotting scope or binoculars.

Most grizzly bears give birth to one or two cubs, with an occasionally set of triplets appearing as well. Four cubs in one litter is a rarity. Although not all four offspring are expected to survive, all cubs appeared active and well this morning.

Newborn elk calf at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Yellowstone (Photo by Beth Pratt)Spring brings spectacular wildlife watching opportunities in Yellowstone—especially since animals are giving birth to adorable offspring throughout the park.

Today, guests at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel witnessed the birth of an elk calf on the property’s grounds. Some onlookers continued to watch the calf and its mother for hours, and many clapped when the newborn took its first steps. As a protection against predators, elk calves can walk an hour after being born.

Just a few miles south of Mammoth Hot Springs, people continue to gather in Swan Lake Flat to view a grizzly bear and her four cubs as they wander in the open meadows and hillsides. Most grizzly bears give birth to 1-2 cubs, with an occasional set of triplets occurring, but a grizzly with four cubs is a rarity. The runt of the litter has been spotted frequently hitching a ride on his mother’s back.

And yesterday afternoon a herd of bighorn sheep delighted visitors in the Gardner Canyon by frolicking with their baby lambs on cliffs near the roadside. One curious lamb seemed to pose for the photographers as it stood upright on a rocky ledge. Within two weeks of their birth, bighorn lambs are able to run with adults to escape danger.

For guided wildlife watching trips in Yellowstone, contact Yellowstone National Park Lodges or the non-profit Yellowstone Association.

View an assortment of “baby” portraits of some of Yellowstone’s wildlife below.

River otter eating a trout in Yellowstone National Park (photo by Beth Pratt)Although anglers in Yellowstone National Park have to practice catch-and-release when hooking the park’s native cutthroat trout, river otters fish under no such restriction. Much to the delight of a few dozen visitors, when two otters caught a sizable cutthroat trout in the Yellowstone River today they made an immediate meal of the fish on a roadside riverbank.

Note: My expert sources say this might be a German Brown Trout--care to weigh in?

One of the otters struggled with the mighty fish for about fifteen minutes—the trout did not yield without a fight (see a photo slideshow of the struggle below). Cutthroat trout are a keystone species in the park and provide a vital food source for a variety of other wildlife, including grizzly bears, osprey, bald eagles, pelicans, and weasels. Anglers must release the cutthroat as the fish faces a number of threats, most notable from competition with and predation by non-native trout.

The Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley, where these two otters made their impressive catch, is prime cutthroat habitat—and as a result a good place for otters to frequent as well. River otters spin and swirl playfully in the park’s riverways, and can also be viewed in Yellowstone Lake. Although the animal is not very agile on land, it maneuvers deftly and quickly in the water and can swim at speeds of up to six miles per hour.