A natural history portrait of a year in Yellowstone, following the fortunes of America's wildlife icons as they face the challenges of one of the most extraordinary wildernesses on Earth.
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
As we follow the grip of winter over the course of six freezing months, we chart the fortunes of Yellowstone's wildlife in a finely balanced fight to survive. Bison and elk struggle to feed with the grass buried under some of the deepest snow in America, while the wolf grows stronger during the harsh winter months. All of their fates are ultimately linked to the power of Yellowstone's volcanic heart.
An early autumn dusting of snow is a sign for elk to start moving down from the mountains to focus on finding food in the valleys below. Although the wolves are waiting for them, the male elk are distracted, they are fired up and ready to fight each other for the right to breed. Beavers get busy in a rush to repair dams and stock underwater larders before ice freezes their ponds. The white bark pine provides nuts to help fatten up grizzly bears and squirrels alike, as all the animals make preparations for another harsh winter season.
As the spring melts the winter snow, the full extent of Yellowstone is gradually revealed. Now, from the surrounding lowlands herds of elk, pronghorn and bison return from their winter feeding grounds to take advantage of America's richest natural grasslands. Grizzly bears emerge from hibernation to teach their young to hunt fish and how to survive in the Alpine peaks. But just as it seems the easy living of summer has arrived, a new danger emerges.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
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