| Most impressive: We saw bison in the Badlands and the Black Hills, in groups of two or three or in small herds. We saw no vast herds roaming the prairie, but I might suggest that a single one of the creatures is large enough to be 'vast.' These guys were wandering beside the road in the Badlands. |
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| Most abundant: These little guys were everywhere, and seemed to be having a fine time of it. They nibbled grass. They stood and stared, either keeping watch or taking in the tourists. They ran about. They chased each other. I'm convinced that small mammals thoroughly enjoy their existences, and I wouldn't really mind passing an incarnation or so as a prairie dog. |
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| Most elusive: The first set of these wild turkeys was almost on top of the road as we rounded a turn, but had managed to hide themselves in the tall grass by the time we pulled out cameras. They were big--the big gobbler was easily larger than a domestic turkey, a truly impressive sight for those moments before he and his friends made their quick disappearance. |
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| Most graceful: That's no contest. The pronghorn were delightful. They stayed distant, and we gathered these shots of a pair of the creatures walking, then running, across the meadows. |
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| Most puzzling: this blue-green concrete or plaster brontosaurus was sitting, as you see him, in a field in the middle of nowhere. We saw him a bit after leaving the park, as we halted for road repair on a little-traveled two-lane near a town called Scenic, South Dakota. People just don't go about decorating the landscape with large models of dinosaurs, at least not normally. This link may take you to the story behind him. |
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| Onward, into the Black Hills, for more incredible scenery, more animals, the beginnings of a massive carving of Crazy Horse, and a glance at Mount Rushmore. |