 |
| Getting around the huge Custer State Park, several hours and still just a portion of the 71,000 acres. |
We saw bison at the Custer State Park Visitor Center, but
it’s out on the prairie where the buffalo roam, and breathtaking as our
introduction to bison was, the following morning’s Jeep Safari surpasses it.
Bison own the park, wander freely, and when they want to
move, we visitors stop. It gives us a
real opportunity to get to know them better.
Bison are the largest mammals in North
America , some about six feet tall and weighing upwards of 2,000
pounds. When you’re close to them out in
the open, you finally get a sense of that gigantic size.
For all their bulk and the hump on their backs, bison can get
right down and wallow in the dirt, although the hump prevents them from rolling
over. Dust clouds rise from their
bodies. We saw this out on the prairie.
They’re big and furry black and brown, the fur often matted
into patches over their sides, the result of wallowing to rid themselves of
insects and other pests. Some look like
patchwork quilts. Along the roads, if
there are trees, you can see where they rub against trees too. Bark is rubbed away.
Their split hooves are very sharp, cutting into the prairie
soil and aerating it, helping it grow. All
part of the environmental stability of the prairie.
Most impressive are their massive heads, dark and full of
fur. Their expression might seem
impassive and their deep-set eyes calm and somewhat sad, but if they suspect
aggression, watch out! Tempers flare
quickly, and the bison can move at more than 35 miles per hour!
Imagine the stampede of about 1,300 animals as it happens
each year. Two thousand pound animals, thundering across the prairie, hammering the earth as cowboys round them up as part of the park management
program—to be counted, some tagged, and some studied. This year it will be on Friday, Sept. 29th,
so if you are available…. What a sight that must be.
We saw no stampede on our Buffalo Safari. For us, the bison strut their stuff and take
their sweet time. When they wish to cross the road, traffic stops and people
gawk—and wait until they’ve gone to the other side.
The prairie, itself, is beautiful. Average rainfall is only 20 or so inches, so
the deciduous trees are close to streams.
On the hillier sections are evergreens.
All in all, not too many trees in total. Not too much green. That accounts in a large
part for the openness and the waving grasses.
Shades of yellows and browns predominate with interspersed trees. Movies and photos cannot really capture the
wide expanses. Seeing is appreciating in
a new way.
Bison, open spaces, a different kind of beauty to us from
the east. But one that is so easy to
appreciate. Our drive through the park
introduced us to some of the other wildlife as well.
 |
| Another jeep far across the open prairie. So different to an Easterner like me. |
The pronghorn antelope is graceful and beautiful, and several
obliged us by coming quite close.
Gorgeous soft brown in color with a brown and white striped neck and a
white rear. Almost regal demeanor. They’re agile and quick, but they allow us to
get quite close. It’s thrilling.
Thrilling is good, but the cutest critters we saw were acres
and acres of prairie dogs popping in and out of the burrows in their cities on
the plains. It’s quite an experience to
see them pop up, very curious, to gaze at the passing parade, staying very
close to the doorways of their underground mazes. On the prairie, their communities stretch as
far as I could see and continued until the terrain changed.
One more highlight in a day of thrills and cuteness that was far from
over. Next up—Mt.
Rushmore
No comments:
Post a Comment