Day Six – Look Who Stopped by for Coffee!

Imagine our surprise when we sat down at our campsite in the North Unit of Theodore National Park for a quiet cup of coffee before heading out to explore this portion of the North Dakota Badlands, when we heard “huffing” and "snorting" sounds. We looked around and saw a herd of bison begin to graze their way through the center of the campground!

There were well over 40 bison in this herd, although counting them was difficult because they kept milling around. Most of the shaggy brown animals were adult size, however, there were several smaller bison calves who were likely one or two-year olds. Eventually, we saw a few of the small reddish-brown calves scattered amongst the herd. Later we learned that these little ones are often called “red dogs”. 

It was interesting to drink our coffee and watch the herd graze through camp. We could hear the chomping of grass, the tails swishing at flies, and adults grunting at each other. You could tell which of the bison kept tabs on the little ones, which adult males had their choice of the best grass, and the lead cow who led the herd on after they had grazed awhile. 

As these huge animals got nearer and nearer to our pickup and camper, we eventually climbed inside so as not to interfere with their grazing pattern. 

Adult male bison can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and females may weigh 1,000 pounds. There were several animals in this herd that appeared to achieve those weights, so we did not want to do anything to cause an aggressive response from them.

It is suggested that people stay 25 to 100 yards away from bison... it is kind of hard to do that when they are grazing their way into your campsite!

After about an hour, a lead cow began to head towards the river. The rest of the herd followed behind at their own pace. Some trotted along, others had a good scratch on tree stumps or a roll in the dirt before following, but within ten minutes the herd cleared out of the campground. Eventually, we got back to finishing our coffee. We weren’t in a huge hurry to set out to explore the park looking for animals... that goal had already been achieved when our guests stopped by for coffee! 



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