标签怀俄明下的文章

大提顿国家公园中的野牛，怀俄明州 Bison in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (© Brian Evans/Getty Images)

National Bison Day

If ever there was an animal that deserved some recognition, it's the bison. Since 2012, National Bison Day has been observed on the first Saturday of November to acknowledge the animal's cultural, historical, and economic significance—as well as its remarkable comeback. Bison were once plentiful in North America. Tens of millions strong in the 1800s, they roamed in great herds, helping to diversify and maintain the prairie habitat. They've also played several important roles in Native American cultures. Indigenous peoples have used every part of the bison for food, utensils, and clothing—and they pay tribute to the giant beasts in religious rituals.

Settlement of the American West caused habitat loss for the bison and that, combined with overhunting, nearly wiped out the species altogether—until ranchers, conservationists, and politicians teamed up to save them. In 1913, 14 bison from the Bronx Zoo were shipped to a wildlife refuge to revive the population. Fast forward to today, and more than 20,000 bison roam on public lands in the United States.

大提顿国家公园中的Old Patriarch Tree，怀俄明州 The Old Patriarch Tree of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (© George Sanker/Minden Pictures)

A tree amid the Tetons

This limber pine standing alone in the sage brush flats has a name—Old Patriarch. A favorite subject of nature photographers in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, Old Patriarch is thought to be more than a thousand years old. The 'Cathedral Group' of the Teton Mountains forms a breathtaking backdrop, bursting up from the valley floor below and stretching dramatically to the soaring peaks. The national park spreads out below the spires for 310,000 acres, creating a home for extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, and alpine terrain. Sounds like the Old Patriarch has found quite a home for himself.

Commonly found in the Rocky Mountains, limber pines are known to stand the test of time—literally. Some people estimate Old Patriarch to be more than a thousand years old. The 'Cathedral Group' of the Teton Mountains forms a breathtaking backdrop, bursting up from the valley floor below and stretching dramatically to the soaring peaks. The national park spreads out below the spires for 310,000 acres, creating a home for extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, and alpine terrain. Sounds like the Old Patriarch has found quite a home for himself.

黄石国家公园的大棱镜泉，怀俄明州 The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (© Martin Rügner/DEEPOL by plainpicture)

Colors spring up in Yellowstone

As National Park Week continues, we're taking a look at the Grand Prismatic Spring, one of the more popular attractions in Yellowstone National Park. Visitors on an elevated wooden boardwalk come to witness the vivid colors, which are formed due to a cycle of hot water rising, cooling, and falling--creating rings of distinct temperatures inside the spring. The clear, blue center is the hottest part, with almost nothing living in it. But the other rings are home to different organisms that give the water its rings of color. While it's beautiful to look at, you wouldn't want to swim in it. It's illegal, but it's also much too hot—and the sulfur smell wouldn't leave you feeling too clean.

Did they forget to fly south?

Native to North America, trumpeter swans live near rivers, lakes, and coastal byways in northern and western US states in the lower 48, as well as in Canada and Alaska. Depending on where they live, these swans are either resident birds or medium-range migrators. What they all require, though, is open water during winter, since their diet consists almost entirely of aquatic plants. That may be why the swans in this image are drawn to the waters of Kelly Warm Springs in Wyoming, which won't freeze even as snow lines the banks.

Trumpeters are the largest living species of waterfowl in North America. The biggest known cob—that's a male swan--weighed almost 40 pounds and had a wingspan of 10 feet. Although in the early 20th century they came perilously close to extinction, today there's an estimated 35,000 trumpeters. Even with the tremendous recovery, it remains illegal to hunt them. And yes, their calls do sound like trumpets, but Miles Davis they aren't. Click below to listen.

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