Jul 09

Bison

by in Photography, Postcard Valet, Travel

Bison in British Columbia

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While driving down the Alaska Highway in British Columbia, you can’t help but spot some wildlife.  We expected to see some deer (and we did, two), hoped to see a bear (four of them; three black, one grizzly), and sort of doubted we’d see any moose (but we saw two, anyway).  It never even occurred to us that we might run into some buffalo.

The first two we spotted were slowly lumbering along the side of the road, munching on the grasses that grew on the huge shoulder between pavement and forest.  We stopped the car on the other side of the two lanes of traffic and tried to get some good photos despite the rain.  Unfortunately, those two bison were not exactly interested in us and didn’t even look up from their meals.

As we drove from Watson Lake to Dawson Creek, we kept a running total of buffalo going.  Nine, ten, eleven, twelve… and still no better opportunity for a great photo. That is, until we rounded a curve and gave up completely on our count.  Spread across both sides of the road, a herd of at least 40 bison were slowly walking the shoulders.  We saw bulls moving among the cows and newborn calves; a whole social dynamic was on display for us.

We took a lot of photos out both windows.

When one lumbering bull approached my side of the car, I focused in close on his head and snapped a few like this one.  Look into his eye.  I think he’s wondering what sort of a dent he could put into our Jeep…

Canon 5D Mark II
Date: 1:40pm, 3 July 2010
Focal Length: 200mm
Shutter: 1/160 second
Aperture: F/2.8
ISO: 250
Photoshop: Auto Contrast

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2 Responses to “Bison”

  1. From Franny:

    Very cool. I’ve driven through Canada many times and have never, not once, seen a buffalo! Lots of moose, elk, bear, deer, and fox, but never a buffalo. Maybe your Jeep is a buffalo magnet.

    Posted on July 9, 2010 at 9:50 pm #
  2. From Arlo:

    Seriously? Wow, seeing all those buffalo spread out over many, many miles… I would have thought they were more common!

    Posted on July 10, 2010 at 8:34 am #

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Postcard Valet is a travel blog and video podcast by Arlo and Oksana Midgett. They just wrapped up their round-the-world trip and are currently updating this site with stories, photos, and videos from their travels while looking for work in Australia.

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