August 19, 2012 ~ Sunday

Today Taylor Ann and Mac James got to go to the National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge, which is about 30 miles out of Missoula.  It was WORTH the time to drive up there.  It was a blast seeing all the animals but we were disappointed we didn't see any bear.  We were sure we could have had an impromptu family reunion.

When we got to the entrance, we saw a huge pile of elk horns they had collected after the elk shed them.  A guy warned us to listen for a rattle snake over there as one has just gone UNDER the horns to hide. 

View going up the road; it took us a little over 2 hours to make the 19 mile drive...it was a  gravel road and there was a lot to  see and take pictures of.

Pronghorn

Beautiful, aren't I?

Mule Deer

Enough already!

Little buck in velvet



Awwww....she's so cute; can we take her home with us?

NOPE!

Even the little guys were cute!

Sue looked over and Judy was holding me on her lap.  I loved it!

Mission Mountains in the distance

The babies are rust-red when they are born but turn brown after 2  months.

Right after Judy took this picture, a White Tail doe ran by but she was too fast for pictures.  Much to their surprise, a minute later, twin fawns ran after their mama.  They were fast too but Judy got a bit of them in the photos.

We are outta here......

We didn't see any Bear, Elk, Golden Eagles, or Big Horn Sheep.
Seeing a Moose in the wild is still on Sue's bucket list.  The closest she's come is seeing two "Moose Crossing" signs yesterday that got her hopes up, only to be dashed once again.  Seeing Mountain Goats in the wild is on her bucket list too.

Here are a few Bison facts:

While true buffalo are the Cape buffalo of Africa or the water buffalo of Asia, the American bison has been called "buffalo" for so long that we now use the names interchangeable in the United States.  The only other bison in the world is called wisent, which survives in small numbers on reserves in Europe.

Bison are well adapted to life on the open grasslands.  Their heavy coats protect them form both summer sun and winter winds.  Their thick winter coat is so well  insulted that snow can lay on their backs without melting.

Bison are unpredictable and can be very dangerous.  They appear slow and docile  yet are quite agile and can run as fast as a horse.

Bison bulls weigh about 2,000 pounds and have heavy horns and a large hump of muscle which supports with enormous head and thick skull.  They have a mass of fur on their heads and a heavy cape of fur, even in summer.  This enhances their size and protects them when fighting.  They are especially ill-tempered during the breeding season from mid-July through August. (and no, we didn't see any of THAT)

Cows weigh about half as much as bulls.  Their horns are narrower.  Cows have smaller humps and a smoother summer coat.  Calves are born from mid-April though May and are a bright rust red color for the first two months. 

Bison wallows are dry dust beds, often found in clay banks.  Bison roll here to rid themselves of insects.  They also display dominance by displacing lower-ranked animals from the wallows.