Bison, Antelope and Prairie Dogs, Oh My

(2019 Grand Teton Ep 8)

Custer State Park is located In the heart of the South Dakota Black Hills.   The park is more than 71,000 acres and has an amazing variety of wildlife and natural features. We spent two full days exploring the park.

We started with the 18-mile wildlife loop. The loop traverses grass covered hills with tree covered taller hills in the distance. We saw dozens of pronghorn antelope and as we neared the southernmost part of the drive, we sighted a herd of about 50 bison slowly milling along as they dined on various grasses. At the Wildlife Visitor Center we learned the park can sustain 900-1100 bison during the winter. Each September, the herd is moved to the southern part of the park for a bison roundup. Several hundred bison in excess of the number above are sold and many become parts of bison herds elsewhere in the United States.

After viewing the bison for a while, we took a side trip on a dirt road that left Custer State Park and entered Wind Cave National Park. The views were amazing.

We noticed a number of small dirt mounds in some areas. On many of the mounds, one or more very active prairie dogs acted as sentries. The mounds mark the entrance to their underground burrows. There were lots of prairie dogs, and the noise they make really sounds like the bark of a small dog!

At the Wind Cave Visitor Center we learned cave tours were temporarily cancelled due to elevator problems. So we joined a ranger-led hike to the historic cave entrance to learn more about the cave.

The first documented discovery of the cave was in 1881, when the brothers Tom and Jesse Bingham heard wind rushing out from a hole in the ground. The ranger explained that during clear days with high pressure, air is sucked into the cave, and during stormy days with low pressure, air blows out of the cave. Using a small ribbon, he demonstrated a ribbon being sucked into the cave with a surprising amount of force. What a vacuum cleaner!

Although the historic opening is very small, about 10 inches by 14 inches, over 142 miles of cave passages have been mapped making Wind Cave is the third longest cave in the U.S. and the sixth longest cave in the world.

We returned to Custer State Park and the wildlife loop, and saw additional groups of antelope and bison. As we rounded a corner, we were stopped by a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere. Dozens of vehicles had stopped to see more than 500 bison – many on distant hills, others in a field close to the road and even a few walking down the middle of the road!

Not to be outdone for attention, there were about a dozen wild burros in the area as well, mooching carrots and such from passing vehicles. One burro approached our truck and tapped the side gently with its nose to see if we had anything.

It was a great day to see wildlife and the big sky views of the park.

As we returned to our campsite, we looked forward to the next day to see the natural rock formations of the Needles Highway and the manmade massive stone carvings of Mt. Rushmore National Memorial.