Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The deer and the antelope




After all these years I now know what the “home on the range” song was all about.  When I was a kid I thought the song was crazy because antelope were African animals.  I’d never heard of antelopes on this continent.  But boy oh boy they’re here for sure.

For two days we’ve been driving through the sagebrush prairie and I’ve seen huge herds of pronghorn antelope and quite a few deer as well.  The antelope are new to me.  They are really beautiful with distinctive brown and white markings and long expressive ears.  The males have spiky horns that give them their name.  The herds are wild and they seem to be doing really well in Wyoming.  Apparently the sagebrush prairie is their natural habitat, along with the cottontail rabbits, which we saw in bunches at our campsite last night.


We had a great time at the hot springs in Thermopolis.  The pools were ceded to the state by the natives over 100 years ago with the proviso that they would be accessible for free.  So we were able to go into the lovely state operated hot spring at 105degrees F outdoor pool at no cost.  Then we took the dogs over the swinging bridge to see the terraces formed by the calcified water.

Today we headed into Nebraska and tomorrow I’ll post some of the dramatic photos from the rainstorm over the prairie.

3 comments:

  1. You know, I never wondered about the antelopes. Just took them on faith, I guess. They're quite dignified looking, aren't they?

    Those rock formations have such interesting shapes.

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  2. hi joanna - i guess we're both odd that way because i always wondered about the antelope as well!!! that's so cool! i was wondering if the hot springs were simply heated water or if they had that sulphur smell i associate with hot springs? have a lovely drive wherever you're headed to day. steven

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  3. Stephanie, yes they have a sweet dignity.

    Steven, the sulphur smell is pretty strong. Even after showering it lingered on our clothes. I think everyone that day knew where we'd been in the morning.

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