View allAll Photos Tagged Prairie
Prairie Rattlesnake at one of the scenic overlooks along the Badlands Loop Road, Badlands National Park, South Dakota. TS4
A Prairie Falcon perches and preens outside of a possible nesting spot at Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, CO. Digiscoped on 04/11/11.
All people which wanna do a hike at or near the Custer State Park know that you can meet a lot of wildlife along the path.
And believe me! It's a different situation if you see a big Bison from your car or by feet nearby the trail.
So it's happend to me that the beautiful Cold Brook Canyon Trail was ended really sudden. Because a Bison stood in the middle of the path and was not ready to move away. The valley was narrow and we had no possibility to round the animal.
But it's better to bend than to break. So we walked back to the car. That's wildlife!
If that didn't happened we had never experienced the other stunning hike which we made as compensation.
The Prairie Trail leaded us through a beautiful landscapes and a herd of bison with many calves. But in this case the distance was safe.
There were a lot of different animals on both hikes. And later we saw a really big bison in the middle of the small park of the Custer State Park visitor center. He was as cool as a cucumber! So amazing!
You see, the Custer State Park is a stunning place where you can experience many adventures.
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The prairie is populated with many native species of prairie forbs (flowering plants) and grasses. This attracts a huge diversity of insect species: bees, wasps, and ants, caterpillars and butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, walkingsticks, and mantids.
US Federal endangered species also known as the Western Prairie Fringed Orchid.. This series of photos was taken during our field trips @ the Native Orchid Conference held in early July @ Itasca State Park, MN. The two days of talks were fantastic this year & the plants seen during the field trips were wonderful. Some of the plants (Malaxis paludosa) were so small that I had lots of trouble getting good photos but they were special to see.
A herbivorous rodent native to the grasslands of North America, the prairie dog is named for its habitat and its distinct, dog-like warning bark. They are known for residing in large colonies known as prairie dog towns, with about 15-26 family groups per town. They are highly social animals, and like the meekrats of the Kalahari, have sentinels to observe the environment for predators. Different predators elicit different call signals, leading to different responses to the threat. There is also cooperative breeding and communal nurseries, all of which have led to interesting biological theories regarding altruism and kin selection. However when a male takes over a new colony, it practices infanticide to ensure the ability to its own offspring to survive. Other incidences of female infanticide are also observed.
Hated by farmers for their supposed damage to crops, breaking horses legs with their burrows (which has never been proven), or spreading bubonic plague, prairie dogs are frequently exterminated as pests. However they seem to have survived the onslaught of humans pretty well, and face mostly threats from habitat loss.
Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs, South Dakota
We viewed these prairie chickens at the property of Farmer Carl Flaig.
www.prairiechickenviewing.com/
(715) 570-0782
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