Wichita Mountains NWR: Wildlife

There was definitely some beautiful scenery at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. But I was mainly there hoping to see wildlife, and I didn't leave disappointed in that regard either.

The refuge is home to a herd of roughly 300 Texas Longhorns.  The breed would possibly have gone extinct had they not been introduced to the refuge in 1927, since they'd fallen out of favor as beef cattle.  This fellow was grazing peacefully by Crater Lake.

Bison proved more difficult to spot, much less get close enough to shoot.  I never saw a group of more than four or five in close proximity to one another, and only a handful of such groups even though the refuge has about 650.

I probably should have sent more time with the prairie dogs since they always deliver.  But I was more interested in the megafauna.

Sunday morning we found a small group of Longhorn cows and calves.  I love the brindle coat on this gal.

Fortunate to catch this tender moment between the two.  I love how the bond between mother and child is found in so many species.

Not sure whether nonplussed, disinterested or ambivalent best describe this guy's expression.  I suppose none are inappropriate.

Gotta look good for the babes.

I tried to wait for this guy to turn towards the sun to get a little more light on his face, but he was having none of it.  At least I was able to get a little shine on his eyeball.

I saw a fast-moving group of about a dozen elk who were running too fast for me to shoot clearly.  Came across a coyote, too, who had a healthy respect for motor vehicles and kept his distance.  Conditions were so windy that there weren't any birds flying around.  The Longhorns really carried the torch for the wildlife on this visit, which was fine with me since I've had the opportunity to shoot bison, elk and deer in the wild before.  All in all, this was just the excursion I needed!