926f Lamar Canyon alpha female

November 24th 2020

Alpha female 926F of the Lamar Canyon pack.

926f before she was collared by NPS

Right after I moved to Yellowstone, she was known as the Lamar yearling, but even then the alpha blood ran strong in her. She showed leadership qualities, and an immediate dominance over her sisters. She would eventually be collared and given the number, 926, and be the glue that held the fleeting bits of a once strong pack, the Lamar Canyon, together, after their alpha, the '06 female (832f) was shot outside of the park. Tragically, on this date in 2018, wolf 926F met the same fate as her mother, as history sardonically repeated itself.

926 dominating over her sister, Middle Grey.

The last time I saw 926f, I was filming her in winter for ARTE (The Return of the Wolves), across from Hitching Post in Yellowstone. I had been standing in the frozen parking lot, watching the Golden eagles, ravens and magpies feed on a frozen bull elk carcass the Lamar's had killed a few days prior. The small bull elk was at the base of a snowy hill heading up to a known rendezvous spot, and I was all alone with the limited daylight disappearing quickly. I considered packing up my gear and calling it a day.

Then, 926f seemed to appear at the top of the hill in the flat grey light. She stood there, like her mother had so many times, surveying the valley below, the carcass, and me. After deciding either I was no threat, or she was so hungry it didn't matter, she trotted down the hill and began eating. I was mesmerized, and filmed the entire scene in disbelief, as she chased off magpies and tried to gnaw on scraps, to put a little meat in her belly for the cold night.

The last time I saw 926f

Eventually, the juice wasn't worth the squeeze, and 926 seemed to give up on the carcass. She picked her way back up the hill like her ancestors had taught her, and disappeared into the conifer forest. I gratefully packed my gear with a headlamp, knowing I had just shared a very special moment with a very special animal, and my producers would be pleased with the footage. Little did I know it was the last time I would see 926f.

926f when she was known as, The Lamar yearling

I feel like there should be a page on my website, "In Memoriam", devoted to the animals I've been blessed to share the landscape with, who have met their wild demise at the cruel hand of man. But like the rest, I've learned to think of 926, and feel the breeze coming up Cache Creek, or smell the sage in the Lamar Valley after a heavy June rain; no matter where I am. That is the eternal gift of the wild, for those of us curious enough to put ourselves out there again and again, no matter how many times we, or they, get hurt. They represent the whiff of wild on the wind that excites the alpha blood in us all. And for this, I am eternally grateful.

926f howling for her pack

For Everything Wild ~ Brad