WIDE OPEN SPACES - Part 2: The Wildlife

I told Lou that I really hoped to see buffalo on this trip. And, boy, did we see some buffalo! We came upon individuals & herds & babies & they even surrounded our car one time! I think bison is the correct term for these majestic creatures but buffalo works, too.

Each bison seems to have an expression of its own. They look so docile but we know that they can be forceful & aggressive. At times they were literally so close that we could reach our arm out the car window & touch them - but we didn't!

This was our first buffalo sighting! Just moseying along the road in Yellowstone National Park.

This herd was also in Yellowstone National Park. They drew quite a crowd watching from an overlook. Some folks brought their lawn chairs & drinks to settle in watching the buffalo roam.

This guy was ambling down the highway beside our car. I zoomed in to get his head & he looked over at me just as I snapped the picture. This is my favorite wildlife photo.

In Theodore Roosevelt National Park we turned off the main road onto a gravel road to a hiking trail. Around the bend we had to stop for about 20 bison on the road! This was taken out the front window (you can see the top of the dashboard on the lower left). At one point they were on both sides of our car slowly making their way past. Way cool!

In Yellowstone National Park the next most prevalent animals after bison seemed to be elk. I found it interesting that elk could be seen in public parks & they had no problem just laying down to rest in populated areas of the park. They drew crowds & park rangers warned people to stay back since elk don't take kindly to being disturbed.

This was a park about two blocks from the Albright Visitor Center in the Mammoth Hot Springs area of Yellowstone. There were probably 10-15 mamas & babies & the one big buck with the antlers watching over his "family".

I spotted this elk a few feet off the road & yelled for Lou to stop. I hopped out, grabbed a quick photo & we were on our way.

I zoomed in on this elk relaxing in a city park in Gardiner, Montana, just outside the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Somehow we spotted this Pronghorn Antelope a ways off the road. Off course, we slammed on the brakes & pulled off the road for a photo op. We learned that if you came upon a bunch of cars stopped with no pullouts, there was a creature of some sort nearby. Within a minute, several other cars stopped but the Pronghorn was moving away from the road.

My best Pronghorn Antelope photo. They are the fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere.

Less than a block down the road, we spotted this baby Mule Deer with his mother close by.

Prairie Dogs were almost extinct but fortunately with the aid of protected Prairie Dog Towns in many National Park sites they are once again thriving. It was lots of fun to watch the little guys scurrying about & darting in & out of their holes.

It was pretty easy to get good photos. This one was busy eating something.

I loved this well fed little guy. I kept thinking he might fall over backwards with his fat belly sticking out.

These Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep (even though they look more like goats, I was assured they are sheep) were lounging near the loop road in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. 

Unfortunately, it must have been rest time since none of them were standing to get a better picture. A few even had their eyes closed when I zoomed in.

They tend to just relax on the sides of hills & mountains.

Even though we see lizards & wild turkeys all over California, I decided to include these couple of photos to round out my wildlife collection. I still just loved seeing all the bison & thoroughly enjoyed doing my best to get some elusive animal shots!

This lizard was sunning himself along the Oregon Trail in Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Idaho.

I can't remember exactly where the wild turkeys were. Not too sure why I took their picture since I have seen countless turkeys at my dad's house in both San Ramon & Roseville.