Yellowstone Grizzly Steals Elk Kill From Wolfpack… Gets Surrounded Trying To Defend It

Wolves surround bear at Yellowstone national park

If you want nature in its purest form, Yellowstone National Park is the place to go.

Wolves, bears, bison, elk… you can see all of it there, and more importantly, how they interact with each other.

Sometimes that means a bear taking down an elk, sometimes it’s a bear defending his kill from another bear, and sometimes it’s a bear defending his stolen elk carcass from wolves… or rather, an entire pack of wolves.

In this case, that exactly what we got:

“This was a incredible sight to witness as most bears should be in hibernation during this time. Grizzlies take over wolf kills 80% of the time in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Junction Butte Wolf Pack originally took down an elk. When they came back to the carcass they were surprised to find a grizzly bear had stolen it.

Eventually, the wolves moved on leaving the bear alone with their kill.

Now if only we could get the people in the video to pipe down…

Cue the Uncle Lucius…

Wolf Shows Off Freaky Speed Racing A Car On Canadian Road

Man, what do you even do if one of these guys starts chasing you?

Wolves have long been one of the top predators in North America, having once roamed over 2/3rds of the continental United States and pretty much all of Canada. They have few natural predators and can take down creatures many times their size by pack hunting.

The typical North American wolf weights around 80 pounds and is 4 to 5 feet in length. While they mainly hunt by sneaking up on unexpecting prey, encircling them, and slowly moving in on whatever is dinner that night, they can also show very impressive speed for a decent amount of time, reaching speeds of up to 40 miler per hour.

Which is really, freaking fast.

You can see just how fast that is in a video captured by a woman headed to work in Behchoko, Northern Territories, Canada a few years back.

She noticed the wolf sprinting down the side of the road while behind it and hurried to catch up, which was a bit harder than you’d expect due to the icy road conditions, but really due to just how fast this guy was going.

He was flying. 

I wish she would have showed the dashboard so we could gauge the speed, but either way there’s no doubt this guy was moving at or above that 40 mph top speed the experts say they have.

Thank the Lord above we have cars and guns and all the cool human stuff.

Cause we’d be wolf meal in seconds.

Wolf Tries To Steal Food From A Sleeping Brown Bear

Don’t poke the bear…

Really, wolves and brown bears aren’t that different. They are both apex predators, who live to hunt and eat. They are both incredibly smart and strong compared to most of the animal kingdom, and both are fairly territorial especially with their food.

The real difference is size. These two are European sub-species, relatives of the wolves and brown bears in North America. These bears can weigh up to 500-pounds while the wolves max out around 80-pounds so a massive difference when it comes to a fight and competitive advantage.

This wolf is seen approaching a sleeping bear. You notice the bear is laying near down near something that is seemingly buried, AKA a prized possession.

Brown bears love to bury their kills and come back at another time for meals. Big cats like mountain lions and bobcats do the same. Often times other animals will try to claim the food as their own, but that’s an easy way to start a fight in a hurry… especially when your target belong to a bear.

This wolf, despite being on the young and skinny side (almost looks like a coyote), has some serious balls, though. He’s going up to a brown bear that is directly on its kill, thinking its going to steal a meal from right under his nose.

The bear quickly wakes up and is not impressed. I mean, for an animal that runs hot to begin with, this is a terrible way for him to wake up.

The wolf proceeds with caution but the bear simply stands on the kill and grits its teeth at the wolf as if to say “try me.”

The wolf tries multiple angles but has no luck at all and is eventually chased off.

It ain’t  easy trying to rob a bear… but hey, can’t blame this hungry fella for trying.

Lone Wolf Attacks Cow Elk

It’s easy to forget sometimes that these animals aren’t just hanging around at Yellowstone National Park, they are actually out here desperately trying to survive.

Seeing a wolf pack hunt is an incredible thing, as they work together so well. But when a lone wolf goes after a large animal like an elk you know they are serious hunters all on their own.

A cow elk on average comes in at 500 to 600-pounds while a massive wolf would be 150-pounds… that shows you the incredible difference and how powerful and brave these dogs are.

The video starts with a wolf laying in the grass.

Eventually it pans to an elk standing on the river side.

Somehow the wolf gets to the other side of the river and is standing on the shore debating on jumping in after the elk. The elk realizes it is unsure of what to do so it stays put hoping it’s in a safe zone.

The wolf crosses the river in a safer spot and runs and attacks the elk. Using its size to its advantage the elk wades through deep water to escape. The wolf, who might be in a little too deep, jumps from shore to shore getting in a good spot to attack as the elk continues to use the water to its advantage.

This shows how smart the animals really are, using their own strengths to their benefit at all times.

The elk does well, but eventually the wolf gets a really good attack going and takes the elk down. As the elk works its way into deeper waters, the wolf lets off.

The elk stays in the high water and floats down river away from the wolf as the video ends.

Just an absolute battle.

Although the wolf comes up empty handed it shows they are elite killers,  being able to give an adult elk a run for their money.

Maybe the wolf caught up with the elk downstream…  it’s anyone’s guess.

A beer bottle on a dock

STAY ENTERTAINED

A RIFF ON WHAT COUNTRY IS REALLY ABOUT

A beer bottle on a dock