“On the road again. Just can’t wait to get back on the road again. Goin’ places that we’ve never been. Seein’ things that we may never see again”.

Willie sure knew how to write a catchy tune for packing up and pulling out. You can’t help but slap a knee and hum along.

After watching the snow begin to blanket the ground in Bozeman Montana we figured it was time to hit the road, or as Troy likes to say “haul the mail”! In good ole boy terms, I’m pretty sure that means drive fast, but from the looks of things we will be heading out no faster than a herd of turtles. You name a dangerous driving condition and we had it. There was snow, ice, rain and of course wind; my least favorite -oh yea! Not to mention the wildlife on wheels following steadily in the trailer.

Moab Utah or bust! Its always one of A of M’s favorite tour locations. The vivacious inhabitants of Moab are unquestionably some of the most extreme outdoor enthusiasts around. Whether it is hiking, biking or jeeping, even the dogs take it to another level of fun and appreciation.

Some of the most memorable moments were also the ones with the best views. From what felt like the ends of the earth, filming atop Dead Horse Point with warm breezes blowing through your hair while peering over Faux Falls. We were guaranteed to get at least a few good shots.

What a great week!

Tons of positive energy and talent. So blessed to work with good people and gifted artists. THANK YOU!

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Ah…the wonderful joys of spring time in Montana!  A time when winter white relinquishes to verdant green, only to be blanketed once again with a foot or more of that four letter word which makes us cringe at this time of year-“SNOW”; when gentle rain drops do finally rule, but create torrential gully washes and flash flooding down into the facility; when snow boots give way to hip waders, but still within reach. A time when we start thinking about “spring cleaning” because we can smell it, feel it and wear it like a coat of armor.  Spring cleaning isn’t about brushing the winter “dust” off; it’s about scraping, scouring and scrubbing this wonderful thing we call “Montana mud”.

Now, our mud isn’t ordinary mud that easily washes off in a puddle of water. No, Montana mud must have the chemical makeup of cement that when wet turns to concrete. It is literally impossible to remove from boots, tires, cages, dogs and carpeting.  We’ve given up on scrubbing this muck mess off the feet of the dogs (and trainers too!) before entering the house and leaving an additional “pattern” to the carpet …..we’re just going to replace the carpet.

Along with the mud comes the awakening of our black bruins, Awly & Muckaday from their 5 month slumber.  It’s always a pleasure when they awaken and rejoin us in the spring.  It’s also a time when we welcome new faces to our animal family, which is always exciting, although exhausting with bottle feeding and bonding~definitely a labor of love.  What we do here at Animals of Montana is far from glamorous, although we make it look that way at times.  We wouldn’t trade any of the “dirty” details though, because at the end of the each day, when the animals are snoozing in their clean cages and their bellies full, and we’re exhausted and looking forward to a few hours of pillow time, we contemplate the mystery of what tomorrow will bring with a smile, knowing at the end of everyday it’s all worth it…even the mud.

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TRIBUTE TO BEN

There still aren’t any words to express the deep sadness within me, and the difficulty I continue to have daily with accepting the reality of what happened November 4, 2012. Ben lost his life, and I lost someone I loved as a son. He was, and will always be considered an intricate part of the Animals of Montana Family-both personally and professionally.

Ben was an extremely enthusiastic, energetic, incredible human being that took a tremendous amount of pride in who he was and what he did. I found myself amazed at his uncanny ability to always think outside the box. His understanding of the animals and capability to learn so quickly put him one step ahead of the rest. Ben was the guy that always went the extra mile. If a client had forgotten a lens or a camera while working at 9000 feet up the mountain, at 30 below zero, he’d say, “Give me your keys”, and be back in 15 minutes with everything that they needed. No matter how grueling or brutal the day was, Ben always ended the day with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step.

I wasn’t there that day. Neither do I fully understand what happened that morning, and probably never will. Some questions have been answered; others may never be. I am deeply devastated with the loss of Ben, which has forever changed me and Animals of Montana. I miss him every day, and I will keep the memory of Benjamin R. Cloutier with me always.

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This spring has blessed us with a few new faces here at Animals of Montana!  We have our ever so fluffy and lovable bobcat kittens, “Frick” and “Frack”.  They love to be close to mom at all times, if she decides to take a journey they are right behind her, doing their best to keep up!  They still have the bluest eyes!  We also have “Coonie” our big baby Raccoon!  Coonie loves to come in the house and follow me everywhere, right on my heels at all times for fear that she’ll lose me!She is so affectionate and will cuddle in your arms for hours.  She loves to play with my hair, reaching up and batting at it with her velcro like hands.  We also have “Wiley” and “Cyrus”, coyote puppies!  Wiley is somewhat reserved and likes to do his own thing much of the time, but Cyrus just loves being held and turned over having her belly rubbed.  She will lay with you for hours as long as you are rubbing her tummy!And last but certainly not least, is “Rook”, the lone wolf puppy!  He was raised with our Golden Retriever litter that was born just two days before he was!  I really do believe he thinks he is a Golden Retriever!  He is happy laying in the front yard with the dogs and he can even work with the coyotes, which in the wild, a coyote is a wolf’s main diet!  Not to say that won’t change as he gets older but it’s pretty neat to observe for now.  We’ve certainly been blessed with a great array of babies this year!  Take this opportunity to capture many great photographs that are sure to pull at your heart strings or join us next year for our Young at Heart Wildlife Photography Expedition. we still have a couple of spaces remaining!

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To prepare for this trip, David and I spent a small fortune in Mountain Warehouse buying clothes and protective gear.  Aside from ski jackets and salopettes, thermals, silk gloves to go under our ski gloves, balaclavas, snow boots rated to minus 40, ski socks, shoe spikes, walking sticks, hand and foot warmers were an absolute must.  To combat camera and battery fade, we invested in a couple of triple layered camera covers where the inner layer was made from fleece material and had a small pocket for a single use heat pad.

Our trip to the US was made up of two parts – a week long photographic session at Animals of Montana followed by a week in Yellowstone.

We arrived at Animals of Montana at 8am to be warmly greeted by Troy and Tracy Hyde.  After Troy had taken us through the “do’s and don’ts” of working with  his animals in an enclosure-free environment, we headed out to photograph our first animal.

I could barely breathe as Charlie the Mountain Lion walked towards us.

As much as I love Viktoria and Valentina, the Mountain Lions of WHF, it is Charlie who has taught me to appreciate this wonderful species.

This is Bob the Bobcat.  I hadn’t expected to fall in love with the Bobcat but they really are something special.

Bob was so wonderfully photogenic that it was virtually impossible to take a bad photo of him.

Pyrenees, the Siberian Lynx, complete with his winter coat.

The snow served to really show off his pelt and tufty ears.

Thanks to Troy and Tracy, my dream to photograph a Siberian Lynx in its winter coat had now been fulfilled.

Mekong, the magnificent Snow Leopard.

I felt like I should feel nervous as this enormous Snow Leopard ran straight towards me, but I didn’t.  Just look at that amazing tail!

Photographing a Snow Leopard in the snow…. another dream fulfilled.

After lunch, we headed back out to meet Tokola, the Black Fox.

I’ve never seen a Black Fox before so meeting Tokola was a real treat.

Check out Angie’s back paws….

Angie is a Canadian Lynx with the sweetest temperament.

The snow was coming down heavier now but for me, this just served to make the experience even better.

Our last animal of the day was Sonic the American Badger.

This little critter was such a character! He just didn’t stop talking, nor would he walk where he was supposed to, much to Benny’s chagrin.  We didn’t mind though as it kept us amused!

I would like to end this blog post by thanking the lovely Frances Day for her recommendation of the silk gloves.  I had been concerned that my hands would get cold when I was forced to remove my ski gloves in order to operate my camera properly. However, the silk gloves proved to be a real relevation in keeping my hands warm whilst still allowing me to use my camera, so thank you Frances!

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Recently I had the privilege of photographing wildlife at Animals of Montana which is a game farm run by Troy and Tracy Hyde.
Troy trains animals to “perform” in movies and for professional photographers. Up to this point, all my animals had been photographed in the wild, so I was a little apprehensive about how a shoot with captive animals would go.   I need not have worried, because Troy’s animals are well kept and amazingly responsive to his control.   Almost all published photos of wolves and mountain lions and other shy creatures of the wild have been photographed in places like Animals of Montana. What worried me most was that my photos would all look posed, but Troy’s animals are allowed to run free in wild settings or in huge temporary enclosures. At the same time, they are repeatedly brought back into camera range by Troy and his excellent staff.

The result of all this is, that, although you have animals in camera range, it is still up to you to react to animals behaving naturally and to be ready to capture the definitive moments. It is definitely a challenge, but also very rewarding, because many of the photos I got could not be duplicated in the wild even with years of effort.  If you are a professional wildlife photographer, or someone who simply enjoys photographing animals for the sheer wonder of them, I couldn’t recommend any place more highly than Animals of Montana. Check out their website when you have time at:   http://www.animalsofmontana.com/about-us/.

Feel free to visit Dennis’s website at:  www.dennisfast.com.

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Normally a Montana winter begins in November and goes through March. Old Man Winter didn’t reach us until late January and we had our absolute best snowfall in February. January is normally the best time for photographing our animal actors in the snow. The most desired animals to photograph are Mountain Lion, Bobcat, Lynx, Tiger, Wolves and Grizzly. Envision a Mountain Lion running straight at camera through a virgin snow covered field. The photography opportunities with our animal actors during the winter months are endless!
We are in the early stages of planning a tour to an “Ice Castle“!    Simply amazing ice formations with a Cat posed amongst the glistening pillars, the light reflecting just perfectly. Stay tuned for a Winter Photography Tour with our Animal Actors to the Ice Castles!  Take a peek at their website www.icecastles.com and let us know what you think of this NEW Photo Opportunity!  animals@animalsofmontana.com.

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John Wright led a group tour to Animals of Montana this Winter!   Here’s a glimpse of what John had to say about his experience along with a collection of shots that he captured during his visit. To join John on a tour to Animals of Montana please contact him at john@photographersonsafari.com.  

With your visit to Animals of Montana you will be made to feel most welcome.  Troy & Tracy just can’t do enough for you. The photographic opportunities are truly AWESOME, and Troy has that uncanny knack of knowing exactly when and where the sun is likely to pop up at each location. He does not take photographs himself, but has learned over the years exactly what it takes to provide that really special shot. He will not only put your subjects in a wonderful location, but will also put you, the photographer, in the best position to capture your image. You will leave this venue with a collection of photographs that would have taken a large part of your lifetime to get in the wild. It would be wrong, maybe, not to admit how you got these unbelievable images -but the locations are so special that nobody would know that you had not taken your pictures in the wild. This venue has been a professional photographer’s secret for many years. Now you have the opportunity to take those stunning “professional quality images” yourself, and you do not need fancy equipment either. All my photos have been taken with a wide angle lens or a 70-200 mm zoom -nothing bigger.  My advice to anybody thinking of a visit to Animals of Montana is to stop thinking about it and just book it. I have already booked another week for next year.  http://www.photographersonsafari.com/. 

 

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Moab, Red Rock Tour

This past autumn I had the opportunity to visit with Troy and Tracy Hyde, owners of Animals of Montana at their location in the mountains North of Bozeman, Montana. They offer an opportunity to photograph a variety of wildlife with handlers in natural settings. They have beautiful animals and a photographic experience …difficult to imagine until you review your images.  Nestled high in the mountain country, they offer cats that could only be photographed in these settings on Safari; and Bears, Mountain Lions, Wolves and smaller mammals, all at a convenient location for those travelling West to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons or Glacier. Although I have been quite lucky with photographing wildlife on my trips through the National Parks, often I come home with very little to show for my efforts. Grizzlies and Mountain Lions are difficult to find, and rarely even seen, much less photographed in the wild. Their convenient location and their tours offer an exciting experience and an opportunity to add wildlife images to your portfolio you otherwise may never have. Visit their website at http://www.animalsofmontana.com/ for additional information, videos and photographs.
By: Richard Strange

Photographing Mountain Lion in Moab, Utah!

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