A fresh bison pic taken yesterday and just in time for Tatanka Tuesday.

The bison herd was quite cooperative, hanging out right near the road soon after sunrise. This gave me a great opportunity to get some shorts of them despite the drizzling rain and poor light.

This calf and one other were very clearly just born in the past day or so. Both still had a very fresh umbilical cord attached and showed signs of some afterbirth on their fur. I watched this cow and calf approach from a long ways away and the little one was a bit wobbly on its feet but kept up with mom while sticking right next to her.

Here, mom stops to grab a snack while the calf hides behind her for safety from the guy with a big camera.

I captured this image a few weeks ago and knew right away I would use it for Mother’s Day.

This bison cow and her week-old calf were straggling behind the rest of the herd – those little legs just were having a hard time to keep up. Mom was quite patient though, stopping when her little red dog stopped, giving it a chance to take a break.

At one point, the pair shared the moment captured in this image. They actually held this pose for quite a few seconds and it was pretty special to see.

Happy Mother’s Day to the mom here and to all the mom’s, four and two legged!

“Oh, mama, you must do something about that breath!” ?

This poor calf didn’t seem too thrilled to be taking in its mom’s exhales. It wasn’t all that cold this past weekend but this cow’s breath was showing up nicely in the early morning sun.

Taken at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado.

Everyone say, “Awww!” ?

Such a cute little one no more than a couple of weeks old. It was doing its best to keep up with the herd but finally it decided it had enough and plopped down to take a break. Mom stopped as well to keep watch on the little one but it wasn’t long before she grunted at her offspring and off they went.

Bison calves are called “red dogs.” There is no definitive answer as to where that comes from but it is believed they got the name simply because of their color when they are very young.

They weigh only 30 to 70 pounds when born but will grow quickly. Full-grown bulls can weigh up to 2,000 pounds while the cows can get to 1,000 pounds.

A pretty special scene this past weekend and perfect for Tatanka Tuesday.

This little bison was only a day or two old and already getting pretty comfortable as it followed mom when she rejoined the herd. With mom keeping a watchful eye, the rest of the herd came over to check out the newest member of the group.

The little red dog wasn’t too sure about all the attention but handled it well. Mom was quite protective, quick to put herself between her little one and the adults.

I almost felt like I was watching Lion King when Mufasa introduces Simba to the rest of the Animal Kingdom. 😉 It was pretty neat to watch.

This was one of four newborn calves I saw that morning, a great sign for the herd and what appears to be the start of a very successful birthing season.

Every child has heard those words uttered by their mother. Wildlife though, tends to go their own way, often with more dangerous hardware to yield. These two, young bison bulls had a bit of a sparring session recently and indeed, one’s horns did come perilously close to the other combatant’s eye.

These guys are impressive just standing alone but when you see them go head-to-head, you get a real appreciation of the sheer power they have. A full grown bull can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds and stand nearly 6 feet tall. These two were smaller than that but no less impressive.

A bison bull takes a big whiff of a cow as they follow along with the herd. Perhaps a precursor to love? Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day  after all. 😉 

It truly was a pretty cold and miserable day today on the Great Plains of Colorado. I think it was about -2 degrees when I took this image and colder temps lie in wait for the next 36 hours or so.

My photo outing didn’t yield anything too extraordinary, probably because I wasn’t too keen on getting out and walking. The one time I did, I think my snot froze in my nose. 😀