Dangerous Beauty Quotes

“People think the park is a display put on by the government to entertain people, rather than understanding that it’s a pristine landscape we’re trying to preserve.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“Wolves avoid people whenever possible. The number of attacks by wolves on humans is low. Most of the ones people hear about are undocumented stories from ancient times. There have been two cases in North America where individuals were killed by a wolf pack, but there’s conflicting evidence on even these two. Wolves have an amazing lack of interest in attacking people. Moose On the Loose Sandy Sisti My relationship with a moose cow and her calf began on May 21 when I stopped to photograph the pair. The calf was less than one day old. The moose cow had ventured to a secluded area to give birth. Her little calf was born on a small island in the middle of the Shoshone River, just twelve miles outside of Yellowstone’s East Entrance. Choosing such an isolated place isn’t unusual, since moose often give birth on islands in an effort to keep their helpless calves safe for the first few days of their lives. Unfortunately the extremely warm weather in 2014 caused the mountain snows to melt rapidly, flooding parts of the Shoshone River. While watching the pair, I couldn’t help but notice that the rising water was swallowing up their tiny island. Only a few bare patches were left where the moose could bed down. At the same time the flooding was stranding the cow and her newborn calf. The young fellow could barely stand and when he was able to get to his feet a few times a day to nurse, it was obviously quite an effort. I worried that this drama would end badly, so on that very first day I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t spend any more time with the cow and her calf for fear of the heartbreak I would feel if tragedy struck. I stuck to my vow for four days, although I would always quickly glance over at the mother and calf each time I drove past. The pair was stuck on a small bit of land far from the opposite shore. I couldn’t imagine how the little calf could ever make it across the rushing floodwaters to freedom and to an area where his mother could graze. For those first few days, the calf didn’t move much. He spent most of his time sleeping alongside his mother or standing to nurse as the river continued to rise. When the calf was five days old, I was surprised to see him up and about as I drove past on my way home from Yellowstone. Although he wasn’t yet steady on his feet, he was able to follow his mother around their island as she grazed. I spent six hours watching the pair that day and from that moment on I knew I could no longer keep my vow to not get emotionally involved. I grew attached to the little family and became very concerned that the calf would never be able to safely swim across the river to the mainland. A friend of mine had already contacted Wyoming Game and Fish and informed them of the situation. He was told that nature must be allowed to run its course. So all I could do was watch and wait. By Day Six of the calf’s life the moose cow had eaten all of”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“Animals that exhibit eyeshine have a mirror-like membrane in the back of their eye called the tapetum lucidum that reflects light through the retina, making it easier for these animals to see in the dark. The colors that reflect back in the dark vary according to the different species of animal. Foxes and owls eyes glow red, while raccoons and rabbits exhibit a yellow eyeshine. Humans don’t have a tapetum lucidum so they don’t exhibit eyeshine.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“Animals that exhibit eyeshine have a mirror-like membrane in the back of their eye called the tapetum lucidum that reflects light through the retina, making it easier for these animals to see in the dark.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“I was carrying an old-style pack with a metal frame. I could hear a zzz, zzz sound, like a bee. I looked around but couldn’t see anything. I was trying to dodge the bee, then I realized there was no bee, it was electricity. The sound was electricity zipping along my backpack frame.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“I’m not a horse guy by any means. The times I’ve had to ride, I mainly just try to survive.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“Bears do a lot of things that are humorous. But bison, I don’t know what kind of sense of humor they have. Dr. Harold D. Picton”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“What was unique about this recovery was that with most carcasses you gag while you’re working because it stinks and looks awful. But this elk had fallen into a hot spring and its carcass literally smelled like a pot roast coming out of the oven.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“These actions are stressing the wildlife. When people get too close, it will always be the animal that pays the price. If the animal is a bear, it will be hazed with noisy cracker shells from a twelve-gauge shotgun to startle it, or shot with non-lethal rubber bullets or beanbag rounds, or relocated from the area where it wants to live—and all because park visitors are unable to control themselves.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“Until relatively recently, humans relied on trails created by animals. Now, for various reasons, animals sometimes use our roads. This includes grizzly sows who raise their cubs along the roadsides to avoid the dangers of the backcountry.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“At the time all I wanted to do was see a bear. When I was hiking I’d think, Oh, I wanna see a bear. Oh, I hope we’ll see a bear. But I don’t ever need to do that again. I love seeing bears, but now when I’m hiking I’m very content not to see them.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“It was a female grizz and she was coming full speed right at us. She was a big blur, but in the background I could see two little cubs. They were darting back and forth, confused and terrified. They were trying to figure out what the heck mom was doing.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“When people observe predation, they’re connecting with a primordial past. The very dramatic life and death situations being played out by the predators and their prey are a reminder of where we come from. Killing and consuming one another is one of the basics of animal survival in the wild. Dr. Nathan Varley”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone

“Although female grizzlies mate during the spring, embryo development and pregnancy are suspended for a few months in a process called delayed implantation. This means if it’s not a good year for food and the female is unable to gain enough weight to successfully produce cubs, the embryo will be reabsorbed and the pregnancy won’t proceed.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone