A youngster having fun

Every once in a while, I'll use one of the different settings in my camera, just for fun. I happened to use it for this photo and, as it is the only photo I took that shows one of the young Bison making a big splash when it ran down a hill (off my photo to the right) and straight into this small pond, I decided to post it. The youngster climbed out of the water immediately, which is what my photo shows. Taken on 26 August 2014, the first day of a three-day trip south, with friends, Cathy ad Terry. The first two days were spent in Waterton Lakes National Park and the third day was spent on a drive much further east of the park.

"There was a time when an estimated 60 million buffalo roamed the plains of southern Alberta. Excessive overhunting and a steady loss of habitat has dwindled those numbers drastically, placing bison on Alberta's endangered list. Just a short drive north of Waterton Lakes National Park entrance gate on Highway 6 is the Waterton Bison Paddock, where a protected herd of rare Plains Bison is kept for viewing as a reminder of their legacy as well as in attempt to aid in increasing their population size and advance their species."

"Waterton Lakes National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is also an International Peace Park, and a Biosphere Reserve. No other park in the world has these three designations. Waterton Biosphere Reserve as it is officially called, was designated in 1979 under what is called the internationally recognized "Man and the Biosphere program" of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), that sure is a mouthful. Biosphere Reserves are designed to promote and demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature."

www.wediscovercanadaandbeyond.ca/2010/11/red-rock-canyon-...

These huge, powerful animals have a very keen sense of smell and can distinguish smells from 3 km away. The only way to see this herd is to drive the very short loop. No pedestrians or cyclists are allowed - the animals spook very easily. We drove the loop a couple of times on our first day in Waterton and went back again on the second day, and enjoyed both the animals and the beautiful setting. It was so cute to see one of the young Bison (Buffalo) come running down the hill to where several of the herd were grazing, and into the pond it went with a big splash and then straight back on to dry land. Most of the time, the animals were way off in the distance, as in this photo, but we were very lucky on the second day in Waterton, which is when this photo was taken.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_bison