Death, taxes, and the end of every good mustelid-spotting streak…  I understand and accept that all three of these things are inevitable, of course, but nothing says I have to go gentle into any of their good nights.

Over the final 11 days of July I’d somehow managed to spot at least one badger every morning, and now, at the start of August, I was determined to keep my streak alive.  Here’s how it went:

Friday, August 1

Marie and I planned to meet our neighbors Jill and Greg for breakfast at 9:30, which didn’t leave much time for badger-spotting.  I drove into the park at first light, did a quick hike to Trout Lake, and then rushed out on the Lamar River Trail.  Panic began creeping in when I made it all the way to my usual turnaround spot without finding a badger.  I sat down on a hill with good views in all directions, and before too long I was relieved to see a young-looking badger emerge from a burrow near the trail below me.  The badger, more curious than skittish, was kind enough to pose for some shots, and while I was taking photos a second badger – larger and older – popped up and shuffled over to see what was happening.  A parent and child?  The streak lived on!

 

 

 

 

Saturday, August 2

I started the morning with my usual hike up to Trout Lake, and about halfway around the lake I noticed dark shapes on a partially submerged log.  No way…  Otters!  Three of them.  They fished and frolicked for a while, and then hopped out of the water to make the overland sprint to Buck Lake, something I’d only seen them do once before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As thrilled as I was to see the otters, I worried that the extra time I spent at Trout Lake would cause me to miss the prime badger-spotting window on the Lamar River Trail.  And sure enough, I walked to my turnaround point, waited on the hill for a while, and struck out.  On the walk back, however, a badger took pity on me and made a brief appearance.  A 13-day streak!

 

 

Sunday, August 3

No otters were out at Trout Lake, and I hiked along the Lamar River Trail for a while without seeing a badger.  But once again a badger emerged from a burrow as I hiked back to my car.  The streak hit two weeks!

 

 

Monday, August 4

Nothing at Trout Lake again, but this time I found a badger reasonably quickly on the Lamar River Trail.  As I was photographing the badger in an open field, a low-flying red-tailed hawk was so focused on hunting rodents that it almost slammed right into me.  A 15-day badger streak!

 

 

 

Tuesday, August 5

I couldn’t believe my luck when I found the three otters at Trout Lake again.  I had them all to myself for over an hour in beautiful early morning light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as the otters vanished back into a burrow I rushed over to the Lamar River Trail.  I searched longer than usual, but eventually I had to accept that my badger-spotting luck had run out.  Waiting around any more would have felt like cheating.  I consoled myself with the idea that – while my badger streak had ended – the otter sighting meant that my streak of seeing mustelids (the incredible animal family that includes badgers, otters, weasels, pine martens, wolverines, and others) was still alive.  Sixteen days!

Wednesday, August 6

The otters were nowhere to be found at Trout Lake, and again I failed to spot a badger on the Lamar River Trail.  Both streaks were officially over.  But wow, what an amazing run!  I doubt I’ll ever top it.

The same day my mustelid streak ended, my longtime friend Robbie and his dad Jeff arrived for a two-night visit on their way to meet Robbie’s brother for some fly fishing in Glacier National Park.  We had fun hiking, looking for wildlife, and catching up.  Our friend Nick joined us for dinner on the second night and regaled us with tales of watching grizzly 791 defend a bison carcass from the Wapiti wolves in Hayden Valley over the past couple mornings, which made all of our wildlife sightings seem pretty tame by comparison.

 

 

 

While I was searching for mustelids, Marie was busy taking a three-week language class in Freiburg, Germany, where she dramatically improved her German, met a lot of really nice people, and overall had a blast.

 

 

 

During the second half of August I found otters and badgers less often, but I did have a close encounter with a grizzly on the Lamar River Trail, plus some unusual reptile and amphibian sightings.  One morning there was a western tiger salamander right in the middle of the trail up to Trout Lake, and another morning by the edge of the lake I found a small garter snake that seemed half-frozen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie’s experience in Freiburg reinforced her growing interest in balancing out the rural remoteness of our home in Silver Gate with more city time, and over the summer we finalized our plans to rent a small apartment in Bozeman, starting in September.  I’ll likely still spend most of my time in Silver Gate, but we’re both excited to have a place that’s just a three-minute walk from a grocery store instead of a two-and-a-half-hour drive.