From an elevated lookout we watched as the alpha female of the Lamar Canyon pack sat in a state of indignation. In the predawn hours she had killed an elk, by herself, on the shores of the Lamar River. This was not unusual for her to do – but moments after taking her first bites, a grizzly bear claimed the carcass – first feeding upon it, then laying down on it to sleep. For the next several hours this famous wolf sat on the river bank, ears flattened – burning holes through that bear with her fiery stare. Her posture and expression in that moment reminded me of the wise words “patience is a virtue,” that my great grand-mother was known to impart to my mother, and from my mother to me. After working on the sculpture for approximately three years, I had hoped to finish the piece out in the Park in front of “’06”. Sadly, she was shot and killed in 2012 beyond the Park borders during the newly instituted wolf hunting season in Wyoming. The piece had to be finished from memory and stands as a monument to an animal that I came to know so well.

You can read about other Yellowstone wolves in Stories of Yellowstone Animals In Bronze, and Telling the Stories of Yellowstone Wolves.

“Patience is a Virtue’” – Alpha Female Wolf ’06 from Yellowstone measures 17.5″L x 10.75″ W x 13.75″H, and is an almost-sold-out edition of 22. $4,000. There is also a maquette version 10″L x 3.75″ W x 7.5″H in an edition of 45. $1,600.