Hello Hive!
It's been a bit, again. Things have gotten more than a little busy at work, but I had some energy left over after calling it quits and powering down the work laptop. I grabbed my gear and went out to see if the bison enclosure was open.
It was!
This is a fun portrait. The eye is so clear and crisp that you can see the individual windows of my Jeep reflected in her eye on the full-res image. I upload a lower resolution, but you can still make out my vehicle clear enough.
Most visitors to this "Minnesota Safari" drive through and look at the herd in the distance. If you're patient and Watch the herd, though, you can anticipate where they will cross the road for a closer look.
For those of you who haven't seen my earlier posts about them, the town of Mankato Minnesota has a genetically pure conservation herd of about 25 bison. They are kept in an enclosure with a gravel road running through it and cattle guards at each end.
Okay, this isn't the best photo ever, but I took it to demonstrate something. Those of you who know photography will understand when I say that this was taken at 19mm and is not cropped. My camera was within five feet of her... sticking out of a half-open window.
There's something about bison in the snow that's almost magical. This group was gnawing on the withered remains of last year's plants. Soon (I hope!) they will have green shoots and leaves to munch on. In a couple of months, we should start to see the first calves of the year, too!
The snow makes for pretty scenery, but it's April! Where is the spring weather?!
It was nice to get to see them up close and personal again. With any luck, I'll have some rambunctious bison calf photos to share in the not-so-distant future!
Thank you for taking a look! If you enjoy my work, please click the upvote button. Comments are also greatly appreciated.
