3 October 2017 Longhorns and Bison

We were back for our second day at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Yesterday's blue skies had been replaced with grey clouds. The clouds did not diminish the beauty of the area and our fun on the trail.

The three turtles on the log were interesting. Even more interesting was the interaction between the middle turtle and the turtle whose head can be seen just out of the water. The turtle in the water was trying to join the other three except the middle turtle kept reaching out a leg and pushing the turtle back into the water. It was an interesting view of turtle society. We are used to seeing many turtles sharing a log with no indication of exclision.

We stopped for a virtual on a flat peak. There was a good 360 view and different vegetation on top.

We spent time trying to convince this tarantula that it did not want to be in the middle of the road. I guess we were successful since when returned there was no evidence of the tarantula as roadkill.

We needed to cross the cobblestone dam in order to read information on a plaque at the far side. We looked and looked and I ventured onto the dam.

My brain kicked in and the reality of a long way down convinced me the crossing was not about to happen. Instead we spotted the plaque on the far side and used the zoom on my camera to gather the answers.

We had seen a few longhorns here and there, but the real numbers of these large, horned animals was found in a picnic area. There were dozens. We stayed in the rental to watch the longhorns as they passed by. There were a lot of young ones in the mix.

We were also treated to a large number of bison. They are in their natural element here in the plains.

There were even a few longhorn not in the picnic area. ;)

it was good to spot butterflies even this late in the year.

The day's grey start had been replaced by blue skies and fluffy clouds.