2023—The Real Deal

It’s probably obvious to followers of this blog that the Pine Marten turned out to be my favorite subject at Yellowstone National Park a couple of weeks ago. Last winter was the first winter I’d photographed one in Yellowstone but 2015 in Haines, Alaska, I saw one for the first time and even made attempts at photographing it. My friends Richard, Eric, and I had gone to Haines to photograph Bald Eagles and we made a side-trip to the Kroschel Wildlife Center near Haines. However, the big difference between that experience and my recent experience in Yellowstone was that it was a captive Pine Marten and the Pine Martens in Yellowstone are wild. And, even at that, my skills were not up to the challenge of photographing one of these energetic, fast moving weasels eight years ago. Here, the Yellowstone Pine Marten stands still briefly to watch its surroundings before scurrying off. This Pine Marten’s the real deal.