Wildlife Tally

Rich and I have been very excited to see big wildlife out here. Here is a current tally of what we have seen so far: Several pronghorns, which look sort of like white tailed dear but with horns and a longer, floppier tail. They are the fastest animal in the Western Hemisphere, can run up to 70mph for three to four minutes, and are almost as common to see as squirrels, judging by how many we saw this afternoon. We even saw one that we had startled in the road spring straight up in the air over a six-foot fence much the way Otis springs over the side of any uncapped structure in which we have tried to trap him. We have seen millions of cows and horses in the most beautiful of fields. There were many prairie dogs at the foot of Devils Tower which are apparently vicious, carry diseases and leave their burrows empty in order for black widows and rattlesnakes to move into them. Yuck. Also somewhat yucky but must be mentioned were the hoards of grasshoppers at a rest stop near the end of South Dakota. Every step we took, they would fly up all over the place. Otis loved trying to knock them down with his pay and snap them up in his mouth but did NOT like when they bumped into his body and would sit down and scratch every time! We have seen one other interesting animal but can’t identify it. Here is a picture. If you know what it is and are first to respond to me by leaving a comment on my blog identifying it, I will send you a special photograph from my travels! :o)