After we entered Badlands National Park, we headed west on Sage Creek Road. We hadn’t gone far before we spotted this bison right along the road.
It seemed inclined to stick around, so I got out of the car. It paid no attention. I walked around to the back of the car. It paid no attention. I pulled the Red Chair out of the trunk and it immediately began walking away. This started a trend I noticed all week — animals didn’t mind the car, didn’t even mind me outside the car, but when I pulled out the chair, they took off. Still, I got a pretty good shot.
This photo wasn’t as dangerous as it looks. My car was two feet to my left.
The only genetically-pure American Bison herd on government lands is the one at Yellowstone National Park. That herd is also the only one in the United States that has always run wild. The herd at the Badlands (which is fenced in and culled regularly) has some cattle blood mixed in. So this is really just a mostly-bison.