It’s 5:30am and our alarm goes off. We pull on some warm clothes, since the temperature has fallen to the low 60’s in the evening. Jon heats up some water for instant coffee, while I get out a couple of mini-quiches that we had cooked ahead of time and frozen. Groggily, we get in the car and start driving.
Deer at Custer State Park
Just a few minutes into our drive, we see pronghorn deer on the side of the road. We stop for a few minutes, watching them eat, and then move on. There are plenty of deer in the park, so we don’t spend too much time with them. A rabbit hops across the road, so we slow down to make sure that we don’t hit it or any others nearby. We spy more deer are grazing close to the treeline.
The Custer equivalent of a traffic jam at 6:30am
A few miles down the road, we spot the heard of bison in the distance. Slowly, we drive toward them, unable to go much further without risk of hitting the ones standing in the middle of the road. We park and turn off the car, roll the windows down, and become a part of the herd as they walk around our car, paying us no attention as they go from one field to the next. There are around 100 bison where we are, most of them eating the grass that grows on the prairies. Some of the young bison, born just a few months ago in the spring, play with each other and pretend fight. Nearby in a patch of rust-colored sand, a few bison roll on the ground, grunting and covering themselves with dirt.
The bison were so close! And these weren’t even the closest that they got!
A large male, who has been laying by the side of the road watching the activity around him, finally stands up and walks past our car, not two feet from my window. As he walks by, I can see that he is easily as tall as our car and has thick horns with sharpened tips. I’m a little bit scared, as the door to the car doesn’t offer much protection should he decide to attack, but he pays us no attention as he slowly makes his way to another patch of grass in the field behind us. For close to an hour, we stay within the herd, observing the different bison and their activities. Finally, we start the car and slowly drive away, thrilled with the experience that we just had.
Jon was REALLY excited about the begging burros!! And I’m pretty sure the burro was equally as excited!!
Not to be outdone by the bison, we are soon surrounded by a small group of donkeys. Not native to the area, they were released into the wild when donkey rides were no longer offered to tourists. They have earned the nickname of “Begging Burros,” since it has become common for tourists driving through to stop and feed the donkeys from their vehicles. As soon as we stop, one donkey notices us and comes up to my side of the car, sticking his entire head inside the window searching for food. We had one of the mini-quiches left, so I unwrap and break off small pieces to feed him. After each bite, he sticks his head inside the window again to get another portion. Two more join in the action on Jon’s side of the car, an adult and a younger donkey. The young donkey isn’t too sure that he likes the mini-quiches, so he rejects them each time we offer. Eventually, we run out of food to offer the donkeys so slowly drive off, leaving them to return to the rest of the pack.
This prairie dog found a carrot!
By far, my favorite animal that we have seen within Custer State Park has been the prairie dog. There is a small section known as Prairie Dog Town, named for all the prairie dogs that live close to the road. Parking the car, we are able to get out and stretch our legs while watching their amusing antics. Most are eating, but there is one who is working hard digging into the ground. He uses his front and hind legs to claw at the dirt and kick it out of the hole, wiggling his butt as he gets lower and lower. Another prairie dog has found a carrot, and is sitting on his hind legs holding it between his front paws while munching. Different cars of people stop and get out while we are there, taking a few pictures and commenting on their cuteness before driving away. Whenever someone gets too close, a prairie dog will let off a chirping sound to warn them away. Instead of warning us away, it only serves to make them more endearing and lovable.
A coyote on the hunt
As we drive toward the end of the aptly-named Wildlife Loop, Jon suddenly stops the car. All I can see is an open field, but he is focused on something in the distance. Finally, I can see what he sees – two coyotes who have seen a deer nearby. The coyotes use the treeline as their cover, trying to get into position on either side of the deer. The deer however, knows she has been spotted and has crouched down low in the tall grass, so only the top of her head and ears are visible to us. She is able to slink away without detection by the coyotes, who eventually head into the trees to search for other prey.
After that encounter, we are at the end of the road and ready to return to our campsite. What typically takes about 45 minutes to drive has taken us close to three hours, due to the frequent and lengthy stops that we made. Wholly satisfied with our morning, we comment on our luck of seeing so many different animals up-close and personal. We had seen the pictures in the guidebooks and on the websites, but never thought that we would have those same encounters ourselves without paying money for an off-road guided tour. This morning had surpassed our expectations, but has been only one reason why we have fallen in love with the Black Hills area of South Dakota.