Ken's Journal
No. 4 - Summer 2004

Devil's Tower, Devil's Tower, WY - 08/03 - 08/06/2004
Days 38-41 on the road. Part II.
 
  So how many pictures can you take of a single feature before you start repeating yourself? Actually, quite a few but I'm only sharing a couple with you. After documenting every inch of the tower I started branching out to shoot some of the local fauna.
 

Right near the entrance to the park is a rather large prairie dog town - about 6 acres is my guess. As you peer out over the town, it seems that every hole has a prairie dog sticking out of it, several out of some. Then as you walk through the fields, the ones closest to you squeal a warning and duck into their hole. As you pass, they pop up again as others duck down their hole - sort of a "Whack-a-mole" in reverse. If you stop and sit quietly for a few minutes (watch where you sit - they are messy fellows) they'll come out of their holes and go about their business as normal. Then you can shoot pictures to your heart's content as long as you don't move too fast!
 

 An actual Red-headed Woodpecker! This one was feeding on bugs populating some dead spruce trees on the trail around the tower.
 
A coyote breakfast - sort of a McBunny.
 

Once you tire of the tower, you discover there are miles and miles of dirt and gravel roads in the area. I spotted this doe out in the forest east of the tower.

 
This picture was the result of a rather strange experience. I had stopped by the road on the way out of the town to take a final shot of the tower when a couple Pronghorn Antelopes sped by going left to right. They disappeared into the brush before I could get my camera up and take a shot. After a few minutes, here they come again but in the other direction! This was the only decent picture I got! These babies are fast!!
 

Meet Big Mac #62.
This is a free-range area and when you're out and about, you have to keep a sharp lookout for these bad boys on the roads. They don't hurry off the road like a deer or antelope, so can be a greater hazard. For those of you who never get out of the city, this is where your fast food comes from.

 
 

Next, Grand Teton National Park.

 
 

Page 29
  Previous Page

Next Page
 
 

To The Journal Index |  To The Summer 2004 Index | To kenbeard.com