We got to spend a lot of 'up-close' time with buffalo and donkeys at Custer State Park in Western South Dakota. We didn't have a choice. They blocked the road.
I'm sure you have noticed. Peggy and I have been alternating our Monday posts between our US travel and overseas travel. The US posts tend to focus on nature while our overseas posts usually focus on culture and history. These are only guidelines, however, as Captain Jack Sparrow might note, not hard and fast rules. Today's post is on the buffalo and donkeys of Custer State Park in western South Dakota. Next Monday we will visit the Black Forest of Germany. All photos in today's post are taken by either Peggy or me.
These buffalo, lazing about on a hill in Custer State Park, actually aren't buffalo. They are bison, or Bison, bison, bison, according to their taxonomic classification. If you want to find true buffalo outside of zoos, you will need to go to Africa or Asia. Actually, these guys could care less what you call them. I'll stick with buffalo, which is what the first European, a French trapper, thought they were when he came across them in the 1600s.
Western South Dakota is truly worth visiting. Peggy and I checked out Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and the Black Hills Institute of Geologic Research with its great collection of dinosaur bones on our trip through there last fall. We also slipped a few miles across the border into Wyoming to visit Devil's Tower. We've already done posts on the Badlands and Devil's Tower. Including today, we have six more posts on the area, which reflects how interesting we found it.
Buffalo on the move. Here we have a mom and calf.
They were moving across the road, and blocking traffic, much to the delight of visitors.
It was a family affair...
Our large F-150 Ford pickup didn't look so big when one crossed inches in front of us.
And why did the buffalo cross the road? To get to the other side, of course. Grin.
And join their herd. There were a bunch. But imagine these numbers being in the millions, which is what you might have seen in the early 1800s. By 1900 their numbers had dropped to around 500 and they were close to extinction, wiped out by settlers and hunters from the East for their hides and for fun, and because of a US army policy that wanted them eliminated to destroy the primary food source of American Indians, in one of the darker moments in American history. Massive land grabs followed that led to the elimination of the buffalo's traditional grazing patterns, which was an equal if not greater factor in their brush with extinction.
Fortunately, a few ranchers became deeply concerned about their extinction in the early 1900s and did what they could to save the buffalo. It's an effort that continues today with a number of interested parties participating— ranging from the government, to Native Americans, to environmentalists, to ranchers, etc. The buffalo now number in the thousands and are no longer seen as an endangered species.
The tourist potential of the buffalo has certainly been recognized and exploited. It comes with a caveat, however: Keep your distance. While buffalo aren't particularly aggressive around people, they are wild animals. If you get too close and a buffalo feels threatened, it may charge. Every year or so, tourists ignore the rule and end up getting gored or otherwise injured. This guy's stance and swishing tail suggest that you shouldn't mess with him. In other words...
I'll conclude with this magnificent bull buffalo we found in Wind Cave National Park, which actually abuts Custer State Park on the south. A bull can weigh up to 2800 pounds and run 35 miles an hour. Irritating him is a definite no-no.
Would you like to have your own buffalo? How big is your backyard? I'm serious. The annual buffalo roundup was taking place at Custer State Park while we were there. The maximum number of buffalo the park can hold is limited to around 1500 given how much land the animals need for grazing. All of them, except the large bulls, are rounded up and herded into corrals where they are sorted according to sex, size, age, health, etc. Enough are then sold off to keep the herd healthy. You can buy one. Bring your truck. The whole roundup is a big deal. Cowboys from all over the West (and probably beyond) volunteer to help. But first, they have to apply and prove they have the necessary skills. There's a long waiting list. We were going to go until I learned that some 20,000 people would be there. We'd have to show up three hours early and could be expected to be stuck in traffic for at least an hour afterward. We watched the video instead.
This brings us to the donkeys. I like them. Next to dogs and cats, they are my favorite domesticated animal. We even have one. He travels with us...
Eeyore, looking out the window in awe of the wild donkeys.
The past 12 months of our travel could have been called the Year of the Donkey. They were everywhere it seemed— certainly in the remote lands of the West where they roam wild. Theirs ancestors served as pack animals for hopeful gold miners. We also saw lots of them in Egypt where they have worked for thousands of years pulling carts, serving as pack animals, and even providing transportation. They still do. We even discovered one in Germany's Black Forest, as you will see in next Monday's post.
They were waiting for us in Custer State Park, They knew where the tourists would be stopping to let the buffalo pass. But unlike the buffalo, whose intention, I noted, was to get across the road, they held drivers hostage.
Unlike the buffalo, the donkeys blocked the road purposely— in search of goodies.
Having caught the driver's attention, they moved in for the kill— or at least a carrot. These donkeys were working together and were probably a bonded couple. All they got was their photo taken.
Donkeys are known to love carrots, but apparently, young donkeys can choke on them.This cute youngster that Peggy and I found in Oatman, Arizona, had a "no carrot" sticker in its nose, much to its disgust.
Our two rogues had better luck with the next vehicle they stopped.
And, given the circumstances, decided that two heads were better than one.
A different perspective. The age old question of how many donkeys can stick their heads in a driver's window was answered beyond a doubt. It was carrot time!
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This fellow stopped by to check us out. "Take your hands off the wheel and hand over your carrots." We didn't have any.
This one was our favorite, however. What's not to love about it with its sway back and whacky look...
And bent ears. He gave Eeyore the evil eye, thinking he had eaten all of the carrots, which was probably true.
That's it for today. Next week it's on to the Black Forest of Germany and the wrap-up for our Rhine cruise.
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