Saturday, August 29, 2015

Bison Watching

Saturday Aug 22nd – late afternoon – We had been a bit disappointed during our day of bus touring that we had not seen many bison, and those that we had seen along the roadside, we had not been able to get any pictures of. As we were driving back to Madison campground, we noticed a number of cars parked along a side road. We looked and noticed a whole herd of bison out in the field and along the riverside. We, of course, headed that way…..

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The first big fellow we noticed was standing across the road all by himself. We stopped the truck and jumped out to get a picture, staying a safe distance away.

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On the side of the road where we were parked, and just across this stream, was this whole herd of bison!

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We watched as the big, single male slowly made his way across the street and between several parked cars, then forded across the stream to join his buddies.

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This is the time of year where the bison are going into their rut (mating season). The big males were bellowing and making all sorts of pre-historic noises! They would occasionally paw the ground and look quite intimidating.

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It was fascinating to watch the whole herd……as well as the smaller groups.

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The little bison had been born just this past spring. The babies are referred to as ‘red dogs’ because thy are born with a reddish coat, and frolic about like puppies.

We watched for almost an hour before deciding that we should head back to our camper for supper.

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