Photographer Bodi Nolan captured an image of wolves napping against a snowy backdrop recently in Yellowstone National Park, and afterward posed a question via social media: “How many can you count?”

(His image is posted above and immediately below and viewers might want to save and enlarge the photo for a closer look. The answer is provided in the bottom image.)

The post, on the Yellowstone Insiders Hub group Facebook page, drew a range of guesses because immobile wolves are far more difficult to spot than wolves moving across snow. Many viewers, however, guessed correctly.

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Nolan, who lives in Pasadena, Md., told For The Win Outdoors that he was photographing members of the Junction Butte Pack in the northern portion of Yellowstone during a 10-day trip in December.

“They feasted on two separate elk kills during the three days that I was able to spot them,” Nolan said.

The Junction Butte Pack is one of the most frequently observed wolf pack in the park, largely because of its proximity to a main road. While this is wonderful for photographers such as Nolan, it’s not ideal for the wolves.

In mid-December, as Nolan was visiting Yellowstone, the park confirmed in a news release that two Junction Butte wolf pups found dead on the road in November were victims of a vehicle strike.

The incident occurred between Tower Junction and the northeast entrance, an area that spans the wildlife-rich Lamar Valley. Afterward, a park spokeswoman told For The Win Outdoors that the Junction Butte Pack was comprised of 18 members: 10 adults and eight pups.

The number was 21 early last summer, but a yearling male disappeared right around the time the two pups were struck and killed.

Nolan, who apparently did not photograph the entire pack, said his encounter occurred west of Lamar Valley, within a few miles of the Petrified Tree trailhead.

Most Yellowstone roads are closed during the winter, but a road that spans 51 miles from Cooke City outside the northeast entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs near the north entrance is open year-round.

–All images except the aerial photo are courtesy of Bodi Nolan. Aerial photo showing members of the Junction Butte Pack is courtesy of NPS/Dan Stahler