The Animals of Montana

In honor of Phil, I had to do an animal post.

A few qualifiers:

1. I was NEVER the one to spot these animals while in the car or on a hike.

Phil has a 6th sense for knowing when an animal is near (or even quite far away...but still within eyesight).

2. I thought it was neat seeing wildlife, but that was the highlight of the trip for Phil.

3. I will most likely, almost definitely, describe these animals incorrectly in some way.

Bison, or Buffalo (as some stubborn folk insisted on calling them), 

were among our most frequently spotted animal.

We thought they were pretty neat until they caused a traffic jam that lasted over an hour.  We just waited and waited as one car got through at a time.

Once we were finally near the herd, I took some video.  Upon feeling one brush my camera wielding arm, I climbed back in the car to watch from behind closed doors.  Hence the "WHOA" at the end of the video.  :)

Here you can faintly see a coyote in the distance.

 A Bull Elk in Velvet

Anyone else know what means?

Wapiti (or "elk" if you're a normal person)

 Here, Phil was finally spotting his first mountain goat.  He wanted to see one so badly, but he only some them from a distance.

 The poor guy almost cried
when he learned that my sister and mom got within reach of them.

 This little guy was hanging out by our lodge in Glacier National Park.

We saw several other animals that just didn't get photographed in time.  

Here is the list of what we DID see:

-Yellow-Bellied Marmot

- Elk

- Bison/Buffalo

- Prairie Dogs

- Deer

- Llama

- Mule Deer

- Prong-Horn Antelope

- Coyote

- Mountain Goat

- Columbian Ground Squirrel

- Big-Horned Sheep

- Hoary Marmot

- Magpie

Here is what we did NOT (much to Phil's dismay) see:

- Moose (although we saw lots of tracks)

- Bear (although Phil's parents and brother's family saw one)

- Sasquatch (although we thought we were close a few times)

 Last, but not least, the DINOSAURS.

Naturally, right?!