Yellowstone is the world’s first national park in the United States. In 1872 President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law. The Yellowstone Act set a precedent and popularized the notion of preserving a portion of the public domain for use as public parks. Congress continued to designate many other national parks, and other nations adopted the idea around the world. Yellowstone National Park has an abundance of wildlife, geothermal features, and many types of ecosystems. It’s most iconic feature is Old Faithful Geyser with eruptions up to 180’ lasting up to 5 minutes. Bison are prolific in the area. They can be found laying in the grass, or blocking cars on the street. A day is never wasted taking wildlife photos of Bison, they are amazing animals to photograph.
When we were in Lamar Valley we witnessed nature at its finest while we were photographing a herd of bison with our long camera lenses. We watched a pack of wolves come through the herd of Bison, and the 20 or so Bison made a circle around the baby bison to protect it, while one of the Bison went after the pack of wolves. This was enough to deter the wolves and they moved on.
We had one other experience and this time we were a little too close to the bison. A herd of bison and antelope were moving away from us while we were photographing, and suddenly 2 of the bison turned around and started to run towards us. We were concerned to say the least. When they were 20 feet from us they made a slight turn, one of the bison crossed the street while the other bison waited at the street. The bison was gone for a couple of minutes and suddenly the bison came back with a baby bison. They crossed the street and the three of them continued on to find their herd.
Some of my favorite Yellowstone Photos:
Some of my favorite National Park Photos:
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”
– John Muir
