January 21, 2015
Pine Marten, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Wildlife photography has been described as long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of panic. That is what it was like for me for the last few days in Yellowstone National Park. I went two days without firing a shot, then I came upon a Pine Marten or American Marten (Martes americana) about 25 yds (23m) from the road. It was on the wrong side of the road, and because I knew the encounter would be fleeting, I shoved my 600 out the passenger window, rested the lens hood on the sill and took a few shots. The marten was small in the frame, but at least I got a decent shot. Then I hauled the 600 back inside the car and put on a 1.4x tele-extender. While doing that, the marten moved up closer to the road and now I had too much lens! I got in position to shoot it and was able to make this image. The marten took off more or less along the road and I decided to turn around so I could shoot out the driver-side window. As I was doing that, the marten crossed the road and then headed away. I had about two minutes with the elusive creature, but it was thrilling!