Wildlife was a feature of all of our travel in the parks and the Badlands was no exception.


Bison

As we headed toward the park entrance, we passed these bison just hanging out. Bison like to wallow and take dust baths. Two of these animals have just had a nice bath and are shaking excess dust out of their coats.

This appears to be a bachelor band of males.


Prairie dogs

There was a prairie dog town adjacent to the park entrance gate. This was the best picture I got of the fat little creatures. As noted elsewhere, prairie dogs are a keystone species for grasslands and their burrows provide habitat for a variety of other animals such as black-footed ferrets and burrowing owls. The critters themselves are food for predators. They also carry plague, a disease introduced from Europe.


Cliff Swallow nests

This shelter provides a handy place for cliff swallows to build a colony of nests.


Varied plantlife As we zipped by the cliffs in the bus, I noticed the variety of plant-life: from grasses in the valley to trees and shrubs on the saddle with nothing much inbetween.

Scarlet Globemallow

The only place I had a chance to take pictures of flowers was at our lunch stop at the Cedar Pass Lodge adjacent to the Ben Reifel Visitors' Center. There was a grassland between the two sites and I waded in to get some pictures. This is scarlet globemallow.

We had been warned about rattlesnakes so I made sure to keep an eye out and make noise.

Frankly, I was more worried about ticks, but I didn't pick up any of those either.


Prickly Pear

We had zipped by many blooming prickly pears in the bus, so I was pleased to see one in the grassland.


Blue flowers

I've not been able to identify this flower even after scrolling through any number of wildflower databases.


Lilac flower

Can't identify this one either. It grows in thick low mats.


Bristle thistle

Alas, I did find a probable match for this one: bristle thistle.

It's an invasive non-native often classed as a noxious weed.


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