YELLOWSTONE: A FEW ANIMALS

The wonders of Yellowstone National Park are numerous!  Eventually I will post something about its mountains and valleys, river and lakes, and—of course—its thermal features.

But seeing some of the animals that call Yellowstone National Park home is really incredible.  There are many I have not yet seen:  bear, moose, otter, beaver, and a range of smaller animals and birds.  Well, on one visit, I saw a moose—bigger than life.  By the time I pulled my camera up, he had sauntered off into the woods and disappeared.  They must be magical beasts, since he so fully disappeared among the trees in just seconds.  Oh well.

Probably the most iconic animal associated with Yellowstone National Park is the Buffalo.  More officially, buffalo are called bison—and I have shared a separate post about these magnificent creatures.  They are incredible.  I marvel at their strength and presence.

Of course, the buffalo know the park is their home and the tourists are merely visitors, so they stroll wherever they want, even along or even across the roads.  And they rarely hurry.

I especially liked when this guy strolled right to and then past the car.

Elk are also abundant at Yellowstone and in the open areas between Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. They are beautiful and elegant as they meander along the roads and near the buildings.  It seems wrong to me that tourists crowd into the fields just to get a little closer to them.

Rocky Mountain Goats are in the area as well.  These young goats were playing along the highway en route to the park a couple days in a row.

On a drive around Yellowstone Lake, I spotted this creature.  I so wanted it to be a beaver or an otter, but no such luck.  My best guess is that it is muskrat.

Birds make their home at Yellowstone as well.  For me, the most impressive are the Swans.  On one visit, they were making a nest, but that was pretty far off.

Ravens, of course, are all over.

On one visit, I even saw a Robin, a Black-Billed Magpie, and some Canada Geese.

On my most recent visit, I had some nice views of a lone Coyote doing a bit of hunting out in a field.

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QUOTES ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF ANIMALS

“Our task must be to free ourselves. . . by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”   Albert Einstein

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”   Anatole France

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”   Gandhi

“Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man.  Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures.”  Dalai Lama

“Lots of people talk to animals. . . , Not very many listen though. . . . That’s the problem.”  Benjamin Hoff

“Mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.  And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.”  Milan Kundera

“I don’t believe in the concept of hell, but if I did I would think of it as filled with people who were cruel to animals.”  Gary Larson

“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights.  That is the way of a whole human being.”   Abraham Lincoln

“The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit toward animals is evil first because it results in great suffering in animals, and second because it results in an incalculably great impoverishment of the human spirit.”   Ashley Montagu

“Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.”  John Muir

“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures in not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them.  That’s the essence of inhumanity.”  George Bernard Shaw

“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”   St. Francis of Assisi

“The animals of the planet are in desperate peril.  Without free animal life I believe we will lose the spiritual equivalent of oxygen.”  Alice Walker

“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”   Immanuel Kant

“The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the fear of appearing ridiculous; it is indissolubly connected with the fate of men.”   Emile Zola

“Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.”   Albert Schweitzer

“Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, will we help.  Only if we help, shall they be saved.”   Jane Godall  [And I would add:  Only if we save the animals and the natural world, can we save ourselves, our world, our souls.]

ONE FINAL NOTE:  I have always loved Nature and Animals and—thus—have always felt the need to protect them.  I am especially aghast for the last several years to what is happening to all aspects of the environment under the guise of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Here is a list of some actions underway as of last November; of course, more have been underway since then as well.  If you are concerned too, please share your concerns with your locally and nationally elected officials.  Vote this issue. All of the environment—including national parks and all animals—needs to be protected from short term economic gains for limited companies and industries.

NATIONAL PARKS: BEST GIFT EVER!

Yellowstone National Park was the first national park, initially established in 1872.

Today is the 100^th birthday for the National Park Service.  It was President Woodrow Wilson who signed the mandate creating the agency on 25 August 1916.  Since then, its charge has remained the same: protect designated land for its beauty and wildlife as well as its historical significance for the enjoyment of future generations.  That goal expanded to include assuring public access to these protected areas.

That assurance of public access is what makes the National Parks the best gift ever.  Not only can visitors enter the areas, but they will find visitor centers, knowledgeable rangers and volunteers, established paths and scenic drives as well as parking and bathroom facilities.  Not all locations are 100% accessible, but most are upgrading their facilities and have at least some hiking options accessible for wheelchairs.  The access is not free, but the entrance fee is minimal, typically $30 for a car to have access for a week.* Annual and lifelong passes are options as well.

Grand Canyon

When you unwrap this gift, you will find a wide variety of places to visit and enjoy.  To see the magnitude of what the national parks oversee, I went to National Geographic’s The National Parks: An Illustrated History (May 2015).  Through photos and essays, the book explains how the National Park Service “represents freedom, adventure, diversity, dedication, respect, and restraint.”  Here is the book’s opening overview, by the numbers:

84,000,000 acres of land

75,000 archaeological sites

18,000 miles of trails

247 endangered plants and animals

407 park properties including

78 national monuments

59 national parks

25 battlefields

10 seashores

27,000 historic and prehistoric structures

20,000 employees

246,000 volunteers

292,800,082 recreational visits in 2014

Yosemite Falls

Not everyone is a fan of the national parks, however.  Some visitors even offer some less than stellar Yelp reviews.  According to a few of these reviews, the parks are too crowded, which can happen in the height of the season. The potential of too many other visitors is why I try to visit places in early spring, before summer crowds start showing up.  Other complaints, of course, are just downright silly and say more about the complainer than the national park in question:  too lonely, too expensive, lack of cell service, poor food, no adequate showers, not seeing enough wildlife, but also seeing rattlesnakes OMG.

More specifically, someone felt Yellowstone National Park smelled too much like sulfur, which—of course—is a bi-product of the thermal features that make the place unique.  And one person advises to be careful when visiting that big hole in the ground, the Grand Canyon, because it is a long fall to the bottom: “Do not hover about the Canyon whilst drunk.  You will fall over the edge and you will die.”  I think my favorite comment was posted about South Dakota’s Badlands National Park:  “Waste of time.  Thank god I was drunk in the backseat for the majority of the trip.” 

Yellowstone National Park

I have had the good fortune of visiting many but not enough national parks as I wander on my nature treks, typically in the spring each year.  My most recent visits were to Yellowstone National Park, where I was able to see bison up close and personal, and Saguaro National Park, where I finally saw saguaro cacti in bloom. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the nation, with nearly 10.1 million recreational visits in 2014.   The Golden Gate National Recreation Area was the most visited property with 15 million visitors in 2014.  Utah offers many parks from which to choose, including Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, and Zion National Parks.

Saguaro National Park

Winter at the Grand Canyon

Two of my favorite destinations are Yosemite National Park and the Grand Canyon.  They feel the same to me in their majestic and beautiful vistas that encourage quiet contemplation and spiritual connections.  But they are different in mood, I suppose.  The grays and blues of Yosemite are cool and calm, punctuated by the power of waterfalls.  The red and brown hues of the Grand Canyon are warm and soothing, inviting one to sit and enjoy the view of the often muddy Colorado River far below. If you sit quietly at either location, you are apt to see some wildlife as well.

Spring at Yosemite

Squirrel Enjoying the View

Running Off with Lots of Nuts! Grand Canyon

Yosemite Cloud’s Rest, Hazy Day

Upper Yosemite Falls

When you visit, wherever you visit, I am certain you will be delighted.  There are three great books that provide magnificent photos and details about the national parks and monuments.  The books themselves became my souvenirs this year to mark the National Parks’ 100^th Birthday.

Here are the book titles—they do make great gifts:

The National Parks: An American Legacy (2105) with photographs by Ian Shive.

The National Parks: America’s Best Idea An Illustrated History (2009) by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns.

National Geographic’s The National Parks: An Illustrated History 100 Years of American Splendor (2015) by Kim Heacox (mentioned above).

Of course, it is the visit to any of the parks that is the real gift.  I encourage you to accept the present and get out there visiting a park or monument near you soon!  It will be a gift that keeps on giving!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NATIONAL PARK? 

WHAT PARK ARE YOU HOPING TO VISIT NEXT?

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*For price comparisons:  Entry fees to Disneyland are $110 per adult per day; San Diego Zoo, $50 per adult per day, and Los Angeles Zoo, $20 per adult per day.  National Parks are certainly a great value!

Bison, America’s National Mammal

Tatanka.

Buffalo.

Bison.

It does not really matter what this magnificent animal is called.  It will still be a powerful wild creature that embodies the American Spirit, bringing to mind both the wild freedom and destruction of the American West.  And now, it holds special status as the official National Mammal of the United States of America.  On May 9, 2016, President Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act.  This new elevated status is meant to emphasize the bison’s cultural and economic significance in American history.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Ancestors of the current American Bison have been traced to a land migration from Asia thousands of years ago.  Although smaller than those ancient beasts, today’s bison have been a part of America for hundreds of years.  As recent as the early 19^th century, the bison numbered in the multi-millions and ran free over much of North America.  These formidable animals were integral to the lives of many Native American tribes, providing not only spiritual imagery and stories but also food, clothing, fuel, tools, and even shelter.  This scene from Dances with Wolves shows a buffalo hunt as it may have happened those many years ago.

Then settlers and hunters moved across the country and killed roughly 50 million bison often for their coats or for sport, leaving the corpses to rot.  Some of the slaughter was intentional as an action to decimate Native Americans, given their interdependence with the herds.  By the end of the 19^th century, the enormous herds had been reduced to a few hundred surviving animals.

In 1883, Teddy Roosevelt traveled to the Dakota Territory for a bison hunting trip.  After several years and a changed outlook, Roosevelt became committed to preserving what was left of the bison.  In 1905, he was instrumental—along with others—in forming the American Bison Society, which developed a bison breeding program through the then New York City Zoo (now the Bronx Zoo).  In 1913, the Society donated 14 bison to the Wind Cave National Park (South Dakota), starting major bison re-population efforts that continue today.

Today bison live in all 50 states, and herds are being re-introduced in Mexico.  American numbers have increased to a total of nearly 500,000 animals, but most of these show evidence of inter-breeding with cattle so are considered semi-domesticated.  Currently, many bison are raised for their meat, which is slowly growing in use and popularity.  About 20,000 truly wild bison remain on various preserves and public and native lands.

As of 2015, Yellowstone National Park was home to the largest wild herd of almost 5,000 animals. This herd has the special distinction of being direct descendants of the original herds that have continuously inhabited the area since ancient times.  This herd’s lineage can be linked back to 23 bison that escaped the slaughters of the 19^th century.  Most other free-ranging herds had to be re-introduced to the various farms and nature preserves they now inhabit.

SOME BASIC BISON FACTS

Postcard Art by Paul Goble

This year, I visited Yellowstone National Park and witnessed these formidable beasts in action. I was there in the spring so saw family groups that included “red dogs,” the term used for the light golden-colored calves.  There were also a few isolated bison wandering the fields, a typical activity for younger males that leave the family groups once they reach about two years of age, joining together eventually in small all-male bands.  The male bands rejoin the groups of females and juveniles, forming large groups during the late summer mating season.  After a nine-month gestation period, cows give birth in the spring.  Most cows have single births, and the new born calf weighs about 50 pounds.

During the mating season, males battle for mating supremacy, but these bouts rarely turn dangerous.  When I visited the park this spring, I saw what I assume were two “teens” practicing this battle behavior as they played in the field.  Later, two frisky calves even practiced the behavior.  These videos are not the best—sorry.  [I did learn that I should invest in a tripod if I am going to videotape activities when the camera is set to the highest magnification.]

 

What impressed me the most about the bison I was able to observe on this trip was their sheer physical prowess.  These animals are the largest mammals in North America, so it is no wonder they appeared massive and powerful.   An adult male bison stands 5 to 6.5 feet tall at the shoulder and can weigh over a ton.  Females stand 4 to 5 feet tall and weigh up to 1,000 pounds.  Both males and females have the characteristic sharp, curved horns that typically reach lengths of two feet or more.  Their coat is so dense that when snow accumulates, it rarely melts since it never makes it below the surface.

I sure would love to run my fingers through that dense coat.

As I spotted bison throughout the national park, they always seemed to be eating.  Actually, they do spend 9 to 11 hours a day grazing on grasses and shrubs.  But do not be deceived by their placid, calm demeanor.  They are considered unpredictable and at times even irritable.  They can run for long distances, reaching speeds up to 40 miles per hour.  When they roamed free, they were considered savage and more dangerous than a Grizzly Bear.

Lee. H. Whittlesey wrote the book Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park.  One chapter is devoted to the death and destruction caused by bison, especially when tourists get too close, somehow forgetting these are indeed wild animals.   As of the second edition’s reprinting in 2014, there were only 2 deaths from bison since 2013, but the potential is always there.  Rangers constantly warn, “Keep your distance!”

I am sure I will return to Yellowstone again and again, mainly to see these magnificent animals.  Thankfully, they are no longer endangered and will hopefully continue to stay safe now that they are America’s National Mammal.  Of course, free-ranging herds can be seen at other locations besides Yellowstone:  There are herds at Wind Cave National Park (South Dakota, about 350 animals), Antelope Island State Park (Utah, 700 animals), the Henry Mountains (Utah, 500 animals), and the National Bison Range National Refuge (Montana, 400 animals).  Also, every September, tourists can watch a Buffalo Round Up of more than 1,000 animals at South Dakota’s Custer State Park.  These places are all going on my must-see list!

FINALLY, WHAT ABOUT THE NAME? 

Bison is the term most often associated with these magnificent animals, now.  It is the more scientifically correct term, and it comes from the Greek meaning ox-like animal.  Bison was first recorded in use in reference to the American Bison in 1774.  The term buffalo seems incorrect because there is not a hereditary link between the American animal and the true buffalos from Asia and Africa.  However, the term buffalo comes from French fur trappers calling the American animal boeuf, meaning ox or bullock.  The conversion of boeuf into buffalo dates to 1635 when its usage was first recorded.  Given this information, either term is equally correct.  Personally, I really like the Sioux word tatanka!

Have you ever seen these wondrous animals in the wild?  Do you have a favorite wild animal you have seen or hope to see in the wild?