July 2020, Cory and I were in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, one stop on an epic adventure from California to Minnesota. There are many amazing sites and animals to see in Yellowstone, and really, we were hoping to see wolves. Unfortunately on this trip we were unsuccessful in spotting any wolves, we did however find many more amazing animals, including this Pine Marten.
While I and many other people were photographing Grizzly Bears, sow and cub, near Yellowstone Lake, Cory apparently not impressed by the Grizzlies was watching something else through his binoculars. Cory, rather nonchalantly said something akin to, "there is a weird looking fox over here, it's just jumping around and running among the logs." Though he said it fairly loudly so I could hear him, there was no excited tone in his voice, so I and the other photographers kept shooting the grizzlies. Then Cory still puzzled by the "weird fox" said, "wait, that's not a fox, what is that?"
There happened to be a National Park Ranger standing next to us and he had over heard Cory and apparently followed his eye as he was looking at this presumed fox. The Park Ranger explained to him that, "That is not a fox you are looking at. It is a Pine Marten, they are very rare. Most of the photographers I know would give up 10 sightings of Grizzly Bears for one good photo of a Pine Marten."
Almost immediately after the Park Ranger said that, I and most of the photographers shifted our focus from the Grizzlies to the Pine Marten. We all crowded around my husband and most of us cut in front of him, obstructing his view of it. Ultimately the best photo I got of the Pine Marten is posted here. It's ok, I think, but I might have gotten a better one.
If I had been a little more interested in Cory's confusion over the "weird fox" he had found, I might have had more opportunity for more images of the Pine Marten. Hopefully, I have learned my lesson.
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