Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit - Day 2 & Petrified Forest - North Dakota

July 23 

We went straight to the South Unit and since it was a week day, there were very few cars there. We saw quite a few deer. Mostly Mule Deer and some White-tailed Deer. 

 Mule Deer - 2 point buck

 Mule Deer - 2 point buck

 female Mule Deer

 Mother Mule Deer & Fawn

 the fawn running after her

 the fawn still had white spots

 the mother turned towards us in the car (we were up on a hill they were down in a valley)

she jumped and ran up the hill behind our car with the fawn following - noticed all 4 feet in the air

 we saw 3 turkeys

 another Mule Deer a little bit later

 lone male

We encountered a large herd of Bison in the road and crossing the road 

 mother & baby

 this one was fighting sleep until he finally just let his head drop

 he finally laid his head down to sleep

 nice tongue......

 this is the youngest one we saw

crossing the road in front of the car

 No sign of any Elk. We made it to the area where they are most often spotted and we climbed the hill and hiked around, but none to be found. Greg said “who knows, maybe we’ll see them in some weird place.”  

 female or juvenile Mountain Bluebird

 we saw more wild horses

We did find a lot of Bison all over the road. They seemed agitated and were huffing/growling/snorting (and their tongues come out when make the noise). We had to wait quite a while for them to get off the road to continue on. Reminding us of safari in Tanzania.

 through the windshield

On our way out of the park we stopped to watch a Prairie Dog Town and we noticed something large and moving that camouflaged well with the sandstone behind it. It was a Pronghorn! 

 Prairie Dog

 Pronghorn

 after it finished eating it had more business to attend to

 and then, just one more thing.....

Western Meadowlark

"Fleet-footed pronghorns are among the speediest animals in North America. They can run at more than 53 miles an hour, leaving pursuing coyotes and bobcats in the dust. Pronghorns are also great distance runners that can travel for miles at half that speed. It’s the second fastest land mammal after the Cheetah. It is not an antelope, but is in a category of their own. Like Bison are referred to as Buffalo, Pronghorns are referred to as Antelope. The pronghorn is an original Native American. It has no close relative on this or any other continent. The horns of the pronghorn help make it unique: they are a cross between horns and antlers, with qualities of both. True antlers are made of bone and shed each year; true horns are made of compressed keratin that grows from a bony core and are never shed. The horns adorning the pronghorn are neither true horns nor true antlers. Instead, the sheath is made of keratin but the horns shed yearly."

So, while we were disappointed that we didn’t see any Elk, we were delighted to see this beautiful animal.

We then stopped at the Visitor’s Center and ate our picnic lunch and then went in to visit the small museum there about Teddy Roosevelt. They also had a short film on his life and how he loved North Dakota. After his wife died in childbirth, the child also died and his mother died of typhoid all on the same day, he set out to go West and grieve. He was an avid hunter, but soon realized that conservation was important so animals didn’t go extinct. They moved his Maltese Cross cabin within the parks boundaries and it now is right behind the visitor’s center. You can see where they shot into the cabin branding it with his Maltese Cross which was his cattle brand. Leaned about the Rough Riders and how he became president. Very interesting life!

 Maltese Cross was his brand for cattle

We stopped in Medora for ice cream which was incredibly good. 

Refreshed, we drove to see the Petrified Forest. It was down about 30 minutes of gravel road and the trail to see the trees was 3 miles round trip. No shade and hilly. Beautiful views. It seems like you can see forever here. 

 we took the North Trail

 Vesper Sparrow

 long trail

 my shadow

 Rock Wren

 that's some dry ground

fracking equipment on the drive back

As we are climbing up and down the hills to get there, I said this would’ve been more fun before my knees and hips didn’t speak so loudly to me. We finally made it back to the car and found our way out to the highway and we went back into the South Unit to drive the loop again. Hoping for Grouse and/or Elk. As we were entering the park there was a family out of their car and the young boy was running around out amongst the Prairie Dogs. You aren’t supposed to park off the road or walk anywhere that isn't a designated trail. Some people have no respect for rules or wildlife. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/iNkdL8AmisagriHf8

Medora Musical that night will be covered in the next post.