Spring Bison Viewing

A young bison eating the tender new grass.

I have been a resident of fly over country my entire life. I like it that way. The Great Plains encompass a vast area. From the Gulf of Mexico to northern Canada, east of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains the prairies once stretched as a sea of grass. Most of this area is now farmland, but there are many areas that are just either too rough or too dry to plow. These areas generally are turned to pasture for cattle.

The sun adds some color to the predawn sky.

First view of bison in the distance

About ten minutes before sunrise, a group of deer are checking me out.

Before plows and fences, the dominant animal was the bison. Perfectly made to survive in the harsh conditions of the great plains, they do not mix with agriculture. We drove the numbers of them from over 20 million to only a few hundred. Fortunately, this small herd was protected and survived. There are now quite a few preserves and ranches that are raising bison, so the numbers have come back a lot. Department of Interior supports 17 bison herds in 12 states totaling around 10,000 bison.

A group of bison working away on the hillside.

There were lots and lots of deer present on this morning.

I am lucky in that where I live has lots of wildlife areas and preserves within a couple hours travel time. These cover a diverse range of habitat so it is possible to see lots of different species. Since the bison are the largest of North America’s animals, they are an attraction to see them roaming and grazing. One of my favorite places to go is Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve where there is a herd of about 2500 bison running loose on over 20,000 acres of the Osage Hills.

There is still some burning going on, but it is about over for the year.

Once you have been here a couple times and start to see how the bison move around, it is easy to just park and point a camera out the window while they wander by. The following shows a group of bulls that were making their way up a hill and across the road.

Bison bull walking by

A group of bulls makes its way up the hill

I offered to try plucking some of the burrs from his face, but he just rolled his eyes at me.

In the spring there are many calves born to the herd. I have enjoyed seeing the little reddish colored newborns, and seeing the dark hairs start to come in and turn them to mini bison. Last week I decided to make the short trip to see if the calves were on the way. It was a nice day to be out and many bison were in fairly close range. The herds are separated at this time, males off in groups by themselves. I only saw one calf, but there were lots of cows that look like they will be giving birth any day now. I guess I will be making a few trips that way!

On the left a calf is feeding. Judging by the size, the bison in the middle is only two or three years old.

The sky was overcast above me, but you can see the sun on the hills in the distance.

After seeing the calf suckle for about ten minutes, mama pushed the little one away. It walked a few feet off and laid down. Then the cow proceeded to eat in circles around the little one.

Mama looking at me looking at her.

Mama’s had just about enough of you for now.

Rest up little guy, she is refilling.

While that was the only calf I saw on this day, the number of cows that look really big is high. My guess is a trip to the preserve at any time in the next month will probably result in you seeing young calves, possibly even a birth. I have a hunch they get back away from where you would see it, but you just never know.

Big girl

I wouldn’t be surprising if they were looking for a private place to have calves.

I will definitely have to make another trip or two down to the preserve. Especially since I am finding additional places to go between my home and the preserve. As I mentioned earlier, I am lucky that there are so many places one can see nature and animals close by. I will leave with a few more shots from the day.

A doe in the morning light

Well, that’s kind of rude.

They really do roam. Constantly.

Actually they don’t roam constantly. Sometimes they just sit and chew.