For the last 20+years wherever I’ve traveled, I have hoped
to see wildlife….elk, bear, moose etc. I
scan the hills, the swamps, the ditches looking for animals. Others tell me about seeing fields with herds
of elk or spotting a mother bear and her cubs along the road. The last few of weeks in northern Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Canada, I had hopes of
having my own wildlife sightings. We
left before daylight to travel to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in
hopes of spotting something wild. We
hiked to lakes and waterfalls knowing that bear were in the area.
I really think all those signs that we were seeing along the
road were fakes…”Sheep Crossing Next 3 Miles…”Elk Crossing” complete with
flashing lights so you don’t miss it and
my favorite…the large reader board sign that reads: " Sheep in Road Next Mile". You would think if they went through all the
trouble to bring in large reader boards and set them alongside the road to warn
you about sheep in the road – those sheep would actually be there – never saw a
one. 
My own aunt and uncle who have a home literally on the side
of a mountain near Plain MT told me about the big horn sheep that show up on their
flagstone patio to drink out of their water feature. They chase them away…he doesn’t want them to
puncture the pond liner. We were there
for 2 hours and never saw a thing. He
sent me an email to tell me that the next day there were at least 8 Big Horns
drinking out of his pond and he chased them down the mountain.
To be honest we did see SOME wild life…a female moose in
Grand Teton ( no horns), a herd of traffic stopping bison in Yellowstone, a
shaggy group of mountain goats on cliff and some big horn sheep at both the
Visitor Center in Glacier National Park and on the way down from the Ice Fields
in Jasper National Park. While I looked
for the wildlife, I saw fantastic scenery and that made all that looking
worthwhile.
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