Creatures Along the Way

We saw many animals along our drive. This mountain goat was in the Mount Rushmore park. He wasn't very shy at all and seemed to ignore all of the visitors who stopped to get a peek. Buffalo, prairie dogs and pronghorn antelope were some of the inhabitants of the prairies of Wyoming.

We made a pitstop on the side of the road to let the dogs out for a potty break. Kevin was playing with them on the leash and they were jumping around having fun. I heard this strange sound, like a locust. I thought, great. Some gross bug is going to crawl up my leg! There was actually a snake within ten feet of me. That sound was a rattle! We stopped and quickly walked through the prairie grass to avoid getting near the snake. Funny thing was, I didn't remember seeing a rattle. We took one last peek to find it, but there was none. We came to find out (thanks to our Blackberries), that rattlesnakes are not ususally found where we were. It was actually a bull snake, which is not poisonous. They rub their tails against leaves or brush when they feel threatened to simulate a rattlesnake to fool their predators (and me)! This can also be their undoing because humans often kill them thinking they are rattlers. Well it worked for him this time. We backed off and he slithered away unscathed. This is actually a picture of the snake. I really wanted it to be a rattler. It would have made a better story. It was still pretty funny how clever he was!

These were the most ferocious creatures of all! I only got out of my seat for a second! I think they actually understand each other!