The park has about 950 bison. When the babies arrive in June, that goes up to about 1,450. In the Fall, they round them up in a corral and auction off about 500 to ranchers who want to raise them or for meat. This keeps the herd at the right size for the grass available in the park. I'm coming back for the auction - yum! We're having bison burgers for dinner tonight.
We saw prairie dogs, but they're too small to get a good picture. We saw pronghorn, but they're too far away. The burros were just right - big and close:
We left the park and followed the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway to Mt. Rushmore. It was definitely the curviest road we've been on. I got dizzy on the Pigtail Bridge, but it was cool.
On the way, we got this early view of George, Tom, Teddy, and Abe. You have to look really closely:
We visited a museum that told about Gutzon Borglum, the man who carved Mt. Rushmore. I had my picture taken with one of his sculptures:
After we visited Mt. Rushmore, Poppa stopped to get gas and saw this Dodge Matador. Look at those fins:
A big problem they have here is the pine bark beetle, which burrows under the bark of pine trees and kills them. The dead trees have to be cut down and moved so they don't add to the forest fire problem. It also helps kill 80% of the new beetles and slow their spread.
Another thing that helps slow them down is this little bird:
Some of the bison that live in town dress really strangely:
Back at the campground, another HUGE 5th wheel was pulling in. I hope they don't park next to us - it will be like a solar eclipse.
Posted from Nana's iPad
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