The enormous majestic animals lumbered through the field, across the road and into  another field.  They had a grace unto themselves.  Their big eyes seemed to look right through us like they knew what we were thinking.  They were beautiful with their massive fur, staring eyes and grunting as they made their way to an unknown destination.

After visiting most attractions in the Custer City, SD area, we decided to take a ride in Custer State Park along the Wildlife Loop.  We were not sure what we would see although we knew Buffalo were in that area of the park along with burros, deer, pronghorns, prairie dogs and other wildlife.

The beginning of the loop had beautiful scenery yet not much wildlife to see, only one lone buffalo on a hill in the distance.  Rounding a curve at the top of a hill and looking down we saw more buffalo than we ever expected to see.  They were on both sides of the road and also in the road.  It took us about 30 minutes to get from the top of the hill to the buffalo.  All the cars were stopping to take pictures as well as stopping to give the buffalo the “right of way”.  The buffalo go where they want and always have the “right of way”.  The wait was well worth it, the buffalo are magnificent creatures!  We were lucky enough to see young calves with their mothers.  Even lucky enough to see a mother weaning her calf; every time the calf came close, she would butt it with her head.  If one herd of buffalo was not enough, near the end of the loop we saw another herd.  This herd was off the road so our stop time
was minimum.  The park is home to about 1300 North American Bison.

The experience of seeing these superb creatures with their grace and ease in their natural habitat was a privilege.  We are always struck with the notion that this is what our tax money should be used for so all Americans can one day experience these things as well.