Custer State Park..

My sons and I went out to South Dakota for a few days and visited Custer State Park.

 

I really like the clouds and sky, and often stoped to capture the views right from the park road.

 

 

 

 

There were storms blowing in from the west, but we had three or four hours of sunlight in the afternoon.

 

 

These pronghorn bucks were part of a band of twelve grazing and resting near the road.

 



 

A park visitor startled the group and they sprinted about fifty yards away before stopping.

 

 



After deciding they were safe a couple young bucks walked back towards my location.

Pronghorns are often curious. I stayed with the band until they all lay down to rest.

 

 

 

Just down the road a half mile a herd of bison was walking and running towards me.

I made a few images before moving on.

 



 

It was only another mile before I stopped for this view. By five thirty clouds had rolled in and we decided to visit Mount Rushmore. We drove highway 16A through cloud and heavy rain and made it to the monument by seven.

 

The entrance station was unmanned and only two other cars were in the parking garage. We walked through the rain to see the sculpted rock as lightning flashed in the distance and thunder rolled. We made a brief stop in the gift shop which was surprisingly still open. The man at the counter told us the park service had closed it at 5pm and were expecting up to four inches of snow over night and maybe fourteen inches at nearby locations at higher elevation.

 

We didn't stay long, before driving down to Rapid City through heavy rain and areas of thick fog or cloud. At lower elevation the rain stopped and a layer of cloud hovered about 2000 feet up as far as we could see. It was a bit odd for it to be  dry and clear in the city and to know it was storming just a few miles to the west. 

Sometimes the prey is tough...

May is the time for newborn bison calves in Yellowstone.

 

Female bison group together to protect and raise their young and grizzly bears are out looking for almost anything to eat.

 

 

On this day in the Lamar Valley a large grizzly was eating grass while a group of bison cows and calves moved past. The grizzly made sure to look like salad was all that was on it's mind as the bison calves went by.

 

 

 

Though the bear hadn't made a move towards them, the bison cows hurried their calves past the big bruin.

 

 

 

Running at least two hundred yards. Once the cows and calves were out of the picture...

 

 

 

some cows without calves went to take care of the potential problem.

 

 

 

At first the bear acted nonchalant as the cows approached.

 

 

 

Until it finally turned and ran towards the Lamar River. 

 

When the bear was out of sight the cows stopped their pursuit and returned to the herd.

 

Later in the afternoon the grizzly bear was back in the area eating grass and keeping an eye on some other bison calves.

On the hunt......

A wild gray wolf walking along a ridge in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada on a 90 degree August day.

This male wolf was working his way along a ridge with rocky outcroppings at the end of it.

Bighorn sheep often frequent this area and depend on the rocky outcropping to  provide protection from predators such as this wolf.

The wolf located a group of five young bighorn sheep rams resting down near a river and took off to pursue them.

Four of the rams ran away and eventually up the slope to safety, but one ram just jumped over the edge and waited the wolf out. At one point the wolf was sitting just above him about fifty feet away.

After a short break the wolf trotted down to the Athabasca River and layed in the water to cool off.

Then stood up, shook off, and walked away.