Lukie selected the 10 am tour on Sunday, a day and time when many in the park are getting ready to leave...so only three seats were filled out of the twelve...we had a private tour...
As we started, the bison were right near the entrance, with many wallowing in the dirt...
You have to wear sunglasses or safety goggles (in case of flying rock and the park with provide you with some) and they also provide you with a pair of binoculars (which Lex loved)...they make 4-5 stops to discuss different things...here Lex is comparing a bison vertebrate to the size of her face...
It takes you right past some outcrops of quartzite, where you find cacti growing sense there tends to not be as much water...
Another stop lets you see and hold the bison's horn (actually its the sheath around it)...
It can get pretty bumpy along the way and both Lukie/Lex kept asking for more bumps (one lifted me off my seat, even with the seatbelts that are required to be worn while moving)...
But just like at Minneopa, sometimes the bison will be right on the trail and other times they won't...they weren't that far away that morning...
There was a big discussion about the size of the herd (currently around 140, every fall they sell of ~40 to keep the herd around 100...the excess right now would be the babies)...
They also discussed that bison herds are all female, males apparently live solitary lives after 2-3 years with the herd...there's only one male in this herd...
Herd dynamics were cool to hear about as well...one female is in charge of the herd, where see goes, they all go...there are also cliques, theres a group of 'popular' bison that the rest try to stay near and theres a group of unpopular bison, who are usually hanging on the side of the herd...
Tours are given 4-5 times a day...Friday-Sunday between Memorial Day and Labor Day...we all enjoyed the tour....
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