October 5, 2025 — The Day That Wouldn’t Quit
Just when we thought the curtain was closing on our first full day in Yellowstone, Adam’s radio crackled.
“Coyote, not far from here,” he said.
Then, with that trademark half-grin: “Wanna go?”
Wanna go? Was that a trick question?
Within seconds, tripods were tossed — still fully extended — into the van like spears onto a chariot. We’d become a well-oiled rescue crew of photographers, ready to roll at the faintest whiff of fur or feather. The day might’ve been dreary, but it had morphed into a full-blown safari with no sign of letting up.
And there it was again — the Yellowstone clue system at work. No need for mystical instincts or a degree in animal behavior. Just follow the cluster of cars and the pointing arms. Sure enough, out in the open field, stood a beautiful coyote — wild, sleek, and perfectly at home.
There’s something about a Yellowstone coyote that feels… elevated. They move with a kind of practiced humility — aware they share the stage with wolves, grizzlies, and bison, yet unbothered by their size or fame. Every step is deliberate. Every pause, poetic. They seem to read the landscape like scripture, listening more than speaking.
Back home in the Northeast, our coyotes are street-smart hybrids — part wolf, part dog, part suburban legend. They rummage, adapt, survive. But here, in the vastness of Yellowstone, the coyote is still a purist. No fences. No streetlights. Just wind, snow, and instinct. When it leaps for a hidden vole, arching high and plunging into the snow, it’s not hunting — it’s performing. Precision and grace, wrapped in fur.
We watched for 35 minutes — a lifetime in wildlife time — and not one of us was ready to leave. But the light was fading, and exhaustion was beginning to whisper. The thin air, the cold, the sheer adrenaline of a day that started at dawn and refused to quit had left us breathless.
Still, as we climbed back into the van, we were smiling like kids who’d just gotten away with something. One day in Yellowstone — one — and we’d seen enough to fill a week.
And tomorrow?
Tomorrow would raise the bar again.
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