Animals in America

Most of my travel time these days takes place in Europe. When I think of traveling, my default setting is packing for an excavation, museum research, and maybe a few days of sightseeing in France. I know what I need, what it will cost, and what I will encounter. It is sometimes a bit of a shock for me when I actually get to travel in my own homeland. The climates, the cultures, the landscapes, the food, vary so much considering we are all part of the same country. One of the most striking contrasts is in nature and wildlife.

Growing up in the U.S., I think we often take for granted how lucky we are to have old forests and diverse species of animals still running around. Our continent has only been inhabited by modern man for about 20,000 years whereas modern man has existed for at least 45,000 years in Europe. The cultures and societies that thrived in both areas differed significantly as well, i.e. the ever-expanding Western world consuming vast quantities of natural resources versus the smaller indigenous societies of the Americas using less and connecting with nature on a different level. The results of these relationships are evident today. We have tons of national parks in America, and within these parks, as well as in less populated areas in the country, we have many thriving animal populations.

As human populations grew, European societies learned domestication from the Mesopotamian world, but still supplemented their diets with wild game. Some of these species were hunted into extinction, or were killed off more recently because they were threats to farmers who raised domesticated animals for their livelihood. In all of my years of travel, the only wild animals I have seen roaming free across the European landscape are red deer (which I saw for the first time last year!), a fox, snakes, squirrels, and a variety of birds.

After my research in Europe this spring, I came back to Michigan to see my family for a few days, returned to Minneapolis for a week, then headed out west on a road trip with Reed to visit my friend Ami and her husband, both of whom are archaeologists. We traveled through South Dakota and stayed in the Black Hills for five days. Our journey continued west as we drove through Nebraska, into Wyoming, and arrived at Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado. During this trip alone, I saw an incredible diversity of wildlife: pronghorn, white tail deer, mule deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, yellow-bellied marmots, prairie dogs, bison, snakes, turkeys, hawks, eagles, squirrels, chipmunks and a huge variety of smaller birds. On a trip to Yellowstone in 2007 I also saw bears, wolf tracks, and a large male moose walking in a stream about ten feet from us. Granted these animals were mostly in national parks, but the fact is you can see these creatures outside of parks as well, such as in northern Minnesota.

Here are a few highlights from my recent trip as well as a few from my trip in 2007.

Reed was either afraid of rattlesnakes, or he was disappointed we didn't see any... (Badlands, SD - 2013)

Deer in Ami's backyard (Custer, SD - 2007)

Prairie Dog! (Custer, SD - 2013)

Bison...I just want to cuddle with one! (Custer, SD - 2013)

Pronghorns -- saw lots of these on both trips. Their butts are white and easy to spot (Custer, SD - 2007)

Wild Asses are apparently a thing (Custer, SD - 2007)

Not-so-fearful Chipmunks on our hike to Harney Peak (Custer State Park, SD - 2013)

Bighorn Sheep owning the road (Custer State Park, SD - 2007)

Funny story, after walking out of the visitor's center I said to my friend Randan, "Wow, their  fake deer look quite real..." And his reply, "...Yeaaahhhh...because they are." (Garden of the Gods, CO - 2007)

Chicaree (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO - 2013)

Reed and I had a surprise visitor show up for breakfast (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO  - 2013)

I named our Elk, Missy.

She even smiled for the camera!

Brown Bear just noming away (Yellowstone, WY - 2007)

This moose came walking down the stream just after we crossed (Yellowstone, WY - 2007)

Seeing such animals in their natural settings is a humbling reminder that we are lucky to have them because they simply do not exist in other parts of the world, and that we must consider their well-being too, and not just our own. Hope you all enjoyed the photos and are inspired to get some nature today!

And be sure to stay tuned, I am heading out in two weeks for the Republic of Georgia for the first time! Yay for someplace new!