In YNP, you will definitely see bison and elk. The last 3 times we have been in the park, we've been held up by bison in the road over in the Lamar Valley area. Elk are all over. If you hike up Mt. Washburn, you have a chance to see bighorn sheep. Other sightings are timing/dumb luck. We've seen bear (from a distance), coyotes, fox, moose and eagles. Never a wolf, but they are seen.

Have fun. YNP is a magical place.

We've seen wolves in Lamar & Hayden valleys, the best wildlife viewing. Lots of pronghorn in Lamar too.

The wildlife you see will depend a bit on how you look. Bison and elk are hard to miss, they are big enough that you can't ignore them. Smaller animals don't show up so well. Look for motion, an eye or ear, legs, etc instead of the whole animal. Watch for cars jamming the road, that means someone sighted an animal in most cases. If you see people looking through spotting scopes, it usually means wolves or bears.

You'll for sure see bison; you couldn't miss seeing them if you tried! We also saw a lot of elk and deer, coyotes, pronghorn, and three moose. We didn't see any bears or wolves, unfortunately.

We saw coyotes, also, and a lot of interesting birds and small mammals. On the back of one of the employee lodges at Old Faithful was a huge falcon's nest (bunch of messy twigs with a lot of white "sign").

I have mainly seen moose in the southern end of the park, near Lewis and Shoshone Lakes.

You could see mountain goats on the Beartooth Highway near the summit. We saw them last summer, including the most adorable baby. Look and listen for pikas up there, too, in the rockpiles.

Bighorn sheep are around. You used to see them more before the wolves and grizzlies came back. There was a time when there were a lot of diseased sheep wandering around who had lost their eyesight due to pinkeye. Wolves and grizzlies make it so you don't see that anymore, which is good. It was kind of sad.

While we have never been in "The Summer" here is a listing of the wildlife that we normally encounter in YNP between mid May and mid June:

MAMMALS: BIRDS:

Gray Wolves, Sandhill Cranes, Ospreys,

Grlzzly bears, Bald Eagles, Gray Owls,

Black bears(including cinnamon phase), Golden Eagles, Great Blue Herons,

Bison, Redtail Hawks, Ravens,

Elk, Canada Geese, Trumpeter Swans,

Mule deer and occasionally whitetail, Magpies, Sage Grouse,

Pronghorn, Mountain Bluebirds, White Pelicans,

Moose, Several varieties of ducks and wading birds,

Bighorn Sheep,

Mountain Goats,

Coyotes,

Red Fox, Pikas,

Beaver,

River Otters,

Small ground squirrels.

That should be enough to keep your wildlife spotters entertained for days...... Enjoy!

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