Day 27 - Wild Kingdom!

Another big attraction just outside Rapid City is Bear Country USA (a drive-thru wildlife park).  And yesterday's weather just wasn't conducive for hanging out with the animals so we decided to visit on our way out of town today.

While it was great to see so many animals, we enjoyed seeing them in the wild with our guide, Roger.  The one animal we didn't see this whole trip was a moose.  Oh well, guess we'll have to visit again.  :)

Enjoy the pictures!

Elk

Mule deer

Arctic wolf

Bighorn sheep

Goats

When I saw all these goats, I couldn't help but think of the story we would read as children with Mama, "Three Billy Goats Gruff"

Yes, this goat was loud!

Starting to shed winter coat.

Reindeer

The hooves are shiny black, as if they have been polished.

Mountain goat

All throughout the drive we saw bears!  Black bears, brown bears, grizzly bears, small bears, big bears, old bears, walking bears, and sleeping bears!

Priceless!  This big ol black bear was just hanging out at the end of the log.

Mountain lion

The old bear

Bears everywhere!

Black bear

Lazy bear!

Getting a morning stretch.

Excuse me, but you're on my log.

Hiding bear

Foraging bears

I think this is Winnie the Poo bear

These must be teenagers....it was 10:00 and they were still sleeping.  :o)

"Oh a little to the right, please"  

"Ahhhh, right along the spine."

More scratching

This is the "Gate Keeper".  He would walk back and forth between the gates, letting one car pass at a time.

Bison/buffalo

Grizzly bear taking his Sunday bath

When he didn't have his head out of the water, he was blowing bubbles in the water!  Seriously!

"Honey badger don't care". (Sorry, these are just plain badgers.)

Groundhog

Skunk

Can you find the porcupine??

(It's hiding in plain sight.)  :)

They have a whole section called Babyland specifically for the bear cubs!  I could have stayed there for hours watching these 4 month old cubs playing and having fun.

So cute!

Somebody lost their flipflop in the bear pit so one of the workers had to rescue it.

The cubs followed her, thinking they were going to get something to eat.  

She said that even though they are little, their jaws are pretty strong!

These two reminded my of my nephews Nate and Chris.  :)

Coyote

Red fox

We left Rapid City, heading south and went right past the Crazy Horse Memorial.  A much better day for seeing it!

Obligatory old building

Glad we took the opportunity to see the animals.  Then we had a 5 hour drive to Cheyenne...traffic was great, but the winds were 20-30MPH.  (Really glad we didn't have the TeePee!)