Yellowstone guide details rare wolverine sighting
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — MacNeil Lyons bought a lottery ticket this week.
He didn’t win.
But Lyons isn’t exactly down on his luck. In fact, the purchase of a lotto ticket was inspired by his fortuitous encounter with what he deems “the most elusive animal in the lower 48 states.”
The Encounter
March 5 was just like any other day. Lyons, who has spent over 20 years as a guide in Yellowstone National Park was guiding a father and his 9-year-old daughter on their first Yellowstone experience.
Around 11:58 a.m. the group was returning from the park’s northeast Gate after an “already amazing wildlife day.” But unbeknownst to Lyons, it would become one of the most memorable days of his guiding career.
“We rounded a corner heading west bound and in the oncoming lane was a low-to-the-ground, dark animal loping away from us,” said Lyons. “The guest said out loud exactly what I was thinking: ‘is that a bear?‘ For a hot second, we both thought it might be a young black bear moving away from us, but as it turned and looked over its right shoulder towards us, there was no mistaking the elusive animal was indeed, a wolverine!”
MacNeil Lyons, Owner of Yellowstone Insight
At the time, there were no other vehicles present. To Lyons’ surprise, they were able to spend a full three minutes in the presence of the animal. In those three minutes, he was able to capture 130 frames of the elusive creature.
“By its size, I assume that it is a healthy male,” Lyons said. “The wolverine was definitely curious for a bit. It jumped up onto the snow berm adjacent our lane twice and returned to the road to size us up as our tour vehicle was stopped, idle. “
But when a second car approached minutes later, it seemed that the wolverine was ready to get out of dodge.
“The wolverine decided it was time to bound up a steep hill of snow, northbound to higher ground, out of our line of sight and behind some dense evergreen trees,” said Lyons. ” As I drove forward to see if we had one more chance at seeing this amazing sentient being, it was my guest from the passenger seat who said, ‘stop…there it is!‘ I dropped the vehicle’s gear into park and quickly slid out of the driver’s side open window to be able to capture an image over the roof of the Chevy Suburban. I was able to see what my guests could not: the amazing profile of this elusive animal in its element.”
Although five days have passed, recollecting the encounter still astounds Lyons, he said. He elaborated on the chance that it was for this moment to unfold before his own eyes.
“Wolverines live in extremely low densities in and around Yellowstone National Park. A conservative estimate is that there are six or so in the park. When you consider that this national park is 2.2 million acres in size (large enough to fit Rhode Island and Delaware and still have lots of wiggle room), we were placed at the exact time this wolverine decided to cross the road is unfathomable.”