It's Not Hell On Earth, It's More Like A Dream

This will be the last Yellowstone post for a while I think. Here is an elk making a face at the nearby horde of tourists.

I discovered yet another new species of chipmunk. This type completely lacks forelimbs and locomotes the forest like a small Tyrannosaur.

A Red Crossbill ravages some fir cones.

Is nice, no?

A studly Mule Deer. He's probably shed his velvet by now and spends his time getting in fights and being incredibly horny.

American Dipper revisited, in less atrocious lighting.

Looking towards the Yellowstone River from the Mud Volcano area. Steamy.

Norris Geyser Basin. Some of these pools will not only melt your face, but your entire body...literally.

White-crowned Sparrow juvie.

Bison are capable of many things...this one is caught in the rarest of buffalo acts, being cute.

Buffalo watchers going apeshit.

Deer penis. It's something to think about.

Sunset through a geyser filter...and that was my last day in Yellowstone. Up next...Grand Teton National Park.

Yellowstoned

A Swainson's Hawk stoops on some fuzzy, unsuspecting prey.

I have discovered a new species of mammal: I give you the Flying Chipmunk. What they lack in altitude they make up for in speed.

Jesus. These things are built like tanks. Or tanks are built like bison.

Cool beans.

Common Mergansers get free access to Yellowstone's excellent fishing and facemelting geothermal features.

Otherworldly goodness.

Meet the friendliest American Dipper in the world. Being a wise bird, it knew how to stay in  the shittiest light possible. Life is pain.

Big Cone. The biggest geyser cone in the park.

A family of Grizzly Bears working on a bison. So sick. 

Yellowstone National Park

Bison are easy to see in many parts of the park. They are massive, bizarre animals that you would not want to get charged by. Their low, rumbling groans seem more at home in Jurassic Park than Yellowstone.

Yellowstone River.

Green-winged Teals in eclipse plumage.

Not exactly a Yellowstone specialty, but here is an American Robin with gratuitous earthworm.

Pollination Party.

An Elk family. Notice unabashed ear-nibbling. 

This big bull elk was in a state...itchy antlers? The velvet was just beginning to shed. I can't imagine lacking fingers to scratch an itch.

Barrow's Goldeneye juvenile. Or eclipse male? I've never seen them in the summer before.

Besides its scenery and wildlife, Yellowstone is legendary for its geothermal features. They are incredibly striking. This spring is at West Thumb Geyser Basin. More pictures soon!