Continuing my bison series, this was the third of five Plains Bison bulls that were hanging out together just off the main park road. They all know each other, and each has his place in the herd hierarchy. However, there is much jockeying for position and status. This big guy stayed aloof for the most part; perhaps he considered the other four to be underlings.
You can see clearly in this shot the yellow stuff that some found confusing in the previous two images: Crested Wheat Grass. It's an introduced species that provides good early grazing for cows... and probably for bison, too. But it forms dense mats that choke out native vegetation. Parks Canada tried for years to eradicate it from their new acquisition, Grasslands, to no avail. You can burn it, poison it (a dubious strategy), attack it any way imaginable... and it just comes back.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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