Part of the reason we travel to parks is to see wildlife. We even keep lists of the animals we see on trips because we can’t always get a picture of them – like the badger that ran in front of us on a road in South Dakota. Hey, it was exciting! (Here in West Texas you don’t see too many badgers, although a couple of coyotes ran across the road in front of us near our Walmart one time!) Anyway, all wildlife sightings are a thrill to us. Today we’re sharing some of our faves.
Cute prairie dog at Badlands National Park. Okay, these animals make their homes in nearly every vacant lot where we live – they’re literally everywhere – but we don’t go around taking pictures of them. Besides, this is a South Dakota prairie dog.We have no idea what kind of bird this is, but it was a beggar. We were at the end of our hike in Rocky Mountain National Park, and as soon as we sat down to have a snack, this guy showed up, like, “Y’all gonna share?”This is a javelina that we saw in a dry creek bed near Big Bend National Park. We’re sure they serve some purpose, but we don’t know what. Wouldn’t want to snuggle with one.Petrified Forest raven – not the species, we just took the picture there. Another shameless beggar. He sat right down next to us, and every time we would move over, he would move over too. Pretty sure he was checking out our jewelry. Never trust a raven, they are super sneaky. Trivia: ravens can imitate human voices better than a parrot, and if they like you, they might bring you a gift – probably something they stole out of someone’s purse, but it’s the thought that counts.We have squirrels in our yard, but these little (Colorado chipmunk) dudes are way cuter… and they don’t eat our fence.We captured (not literally) this mad mother cactus wren at Big Bend National Park. We’d be mad if we had to live in a cactus, too.Rocky Mountain National Park bull elk. No lie, this macho man had at least 20 wives and a bunch of kids that he was watching over, but he was so pretty we wanted a shot of him alone.We didn’t have to go far to find this little hummingbird because he was in our own back yard. Thrilling for us because we only see them if we’re lucky enough to catch them during migration. Trivia: a group of hummingbirds is called a charm.Here’s a little North Dakota gal that we would like to snuggle.Boston harbor gull. Undoubtedly, he is waiting for an unsuspecting tourist to walk by with food. These guys aren’t beggars, they’re thieves. Trivia: gulls can smell food up to three miles away, and they can see for up to two miles. A group of gulls is called a colony. PSA: never go near a harbor with a Big Mac.
We’re going to close this post with a bison we saw at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We wouldn’t want to get too close to him, not only because he weighs a ton and could probably kill us with a little head butt, but because we think he would smell terrible – like really terrible. We will keep our distance, thank you.
We hope you enjoyed our post and will come back again for more exciting road trip destinations, a Quick Stop, some tips and tricks, or another Wish We Were There Wednesday. Better yet, come back for all of our posts, and join our family of followers so you never miss one! We can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Happy hump day, everyone!
Mike and Kellye
As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) We aren’t paid for our recommendations, and we only recommend our own tried and true vendors and venues. Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
So envious. All we have in our yard is squirrels, and they eat our fence! Wish we could have hummingbirds every year, but it’s too dry for them here. Thank you for stopping by and for your sweet comment.
Great Footage Of Out West Creatures & One In North East. All God’s Creatures Are Great To
See,Rather In Person “The Best” or In Photos, Which Is Better Than Not At All. Thank You 😊
Love this post and all the animals!! We enjoy seeing the animals too on our trips!
Thank you! Animals make it so much more fun!!
Beautiful pictures! I love nature and can’t wait for the hummingbirds to arrive in a month. Monday we had a mom and her two young deer in our yard.
So envious. All we have in our yard is squirrels, and they eat our fence! Wish we could have hummingbirds every year, but it’s too dry for them here. Thank you for stopping by and for your sweet comment.
Great Footage Of Out West Creatures & One In North East. All God’s Creatures Are Great To
See,Rather In Person “The Best” or In Photos, Which Is Better Than Not At All. Thank You 😊
Thank you for checking out our post Shirley! We love all the creatures! We also appreciate the national and state parks for protecting them.