We entered Grassland National Park in mid-April, the perfect time of year in my opinion; the snow has melted, the flowers are starting to bloom, and the birds are starting to migrate in. Almost as soon as we entered the park we spotted a huge colony (or dog town) of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). We also spotted a herd of bison (Bison bison). This would be a great indication of the wildlife we would see during our five night stay here.
bye son!
We woke up early on our first morning and drove over to the trailhead for the Timbergultch trail; a 15km hike that was rated as a black diamond in difficulty. While not like the black diamond hikes in The Rockies it still had its difficulties. It took us most of the day and my bad knee was killing me by the end of it. However, it was a great first hike of the season. We saw so much wildlife! Lots of birds, deer, bison and even a moose! We found a lot a deer bones and antlers (a good sign of apex predators in the area!). The sun was out with a slight cool breeze which made for comfortable hiking weather. Towards the end of the hike we spotted a dead bison on a hill just off the trail. We hiked up to it and thought it had most likely died after stepping in a ground squirrel hole and hitting its head on a huge boulder as it fell down the hill. It hadn’t been scavenged yet but was pretty stiff so can’t have been there too long.
The Plains Bison had been absent from the prairies for over 120 years. These grasslands had evolved with bison and had changed extensively in the 1880's when the bison had almost met their demise. However, in 2005 the plains bison were reintroduced to the Grassland National Park. Since then the National Park has thrived!
nice rack!
On our 3rd day we chose to hike the 8km Three Sisters Trail. It was named for the view of three mountains known as the Three Sisters visible along the trail, but I think the trail should be named for the huge prairie dig colony there. There were prairie dog holes as far as the eye can see! And you can hear them “meep” when we walk by to warn the others that we were approaching. There was a sign at the trail-head warning of the sylvatic flea which is carried by the prairie dogs and causes the sylvatic plague in humans.
This species of prairie dogs are considered threatened in Canada and can only be found in the wild in and around Grasslands National Park. This is due to being seen as a competitor with livestock for their food. As a response they have been poisoned, trapped, shot, flooded and even dynamited out of their homes. With them went the animals that feed on them; the owls, ferrets, snakes, foxes, coyotes, and badgers. The burrowing owl, and even more threatened animal and one we weren't fortunate enough to see, relies heavily on the success of the prairie dogs as they use the prairie dog burrows as their home as well.
Walking on the 70mile Butte trail
While we did do some other, shorter hikes over our five days here the two mentioned in the post are the two that stand out the most for me. Overall Grasslands National Park was one of my most memorable places yet. While the mountains that we are used to are captivating there is a different kind of beauty in the grasslands and I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed it and how much I learned about this new ecosystem while I was there. I feel like a lot of people find the grasslands to be boring and monotonous (Ryan being one of those people), but there are so many subtle things to find. Also, the big “exciting” animals are much easier to find too. While in the park we were also lucky enough to spot pronghorn, foxes, coyotes, and so many birds.
Black-tailed prairie dog
All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Bree Plater unless stated otherwise. You can see more photos at:
website: https://saultphotography.com/
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