The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge recently moved most of the bison herd to the west side of the refuge. While this oftentimes put them on the “wrong” side of a fence, preventing close encounters, it does allow for cool scenes like this. I always love seeing these majestic beasts graze with those awesome Rocky Mountains in the background.

Now, Mother Nature, let’s talk about getting us some much-needed snow!

Rugged. That seems like an apt description of this monstrous bison bull I photographed last weekend.

He is one of the big boys at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado and worthy of respect for sure.

It used to be we called these creatures “buffalo” but that actually was incorrect. While they are part of the same family that includes the European and African buffalo, the Bison is its own, distinct species. It is believed they were called buffalo by early North American explorers due to their resemblance to the Old-World species. Native Americans call them Tatanka, a Lakota word that translated means “bull buffalo.”

In May 2016 the #bison became the official mammal of the United States, a fitting and long overdue honor. Today is National Bison Day so it is a fitting time to share this image.

Certainly a scene that I have captured and shared many times but it is one that I just never seem to tire of. The quiet of sunrise on the Colorado plains and the warmth the rising sun brings make for a nice day to be out and about. Throw in a group of our official national mammal grazing peacefully on the grass and I could look at this all day long.

I’ve captured and shared many images of similar scenes but not at this particular location. Returning to Denver after a trip to Cheyenne recently, the bison of the Terry Bison Ranch were grazing in a nice, open area next to the road.

I had never seen them in this particular part of the 27,000 acre ranch and with those snow-capped Rocky Mountains in the background, it required a quick stop for a few captures.

As you can see, the herd appears to have had a very good birthing season with seven calves seen in this image and many more out of view.

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.