American Gam

“Walk tall as the trees, live strong as the mountains, be gentle as the spring wind, keep warmth from the summer sun in your heart, and the Great Spirit will always be with you.” ~ Chief Tatanka

It was the coolest day we’ve had in a long time so we went to the southern half of Custer State Park where you will find the eighteen-mile Wildlife Loop Road, with it’s pine-speckled hills and open grasslands, in hopes that the early morning chilly weather would have the park’s wildlife moving and frolicking about. On the park’s seventy thousand acres we had the potential to see Bison, Coyotes, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats, Pronghorns, Burros, Mountain Lions, Mule Deer, White-Tailed Deer, Elk, and Treva’s favorite…Prairie Dogs.

What we saw on this day was two deer, four Pronghorns, a hundred or so Prairie Dogs, and around fourteen hundred Bison, or as the Lakota Sioux Indians call them…Tatanka. 🦬

Before we saw any wildlife we drove up to the Mount Coolidge Fire Tower. From a six thousand foot elevation we had a 360° view of Custer State Park…

From there we stopped at a Prairie Dog town for a visit with some of the locals…

At the entrance to the park the ranger told us where he thought the Bison herd might be so we ventured on through the beautiful verdant hills in search of… Tatanka! 🦬

There’s one! 🦬

And then we heard the herd!

Speaking of Tatanka…I recently finished refurbishing this bicycle-built-for-two called…

I hope you never get run over by a Tatanka.

The gam continues…