Caprock Canyon State Park, Texas October 31 to November 2nd

 Happy Halloween !

Another beautiful cold morning. We've only a 2 hour drive today to Caprock Canyons State Park and check in is at 2 so we have a slow start. After hitting the road, the first thing is to find somewhere to fill the coach propane tank as we're on "red"! There's supposed to be some at a gas station in Canyon Ray called to confirm they can fill RV's, so we drove there first ... the lady lied! There's not even a propane tank around and nowhere to get in and out with the coach and car if there was. Ray pulled onto a residential street (which is quite picturess) and we started Googling. I found a place in Silverton, that we go through to the Caprock State Park. After placing a call and getting a "yes", we were back on the road. 

By 2:30 we were all set up in our new home for the next three days. I couldn't get a site in the motorhome 50 amp loop, so we elected to go dry camping in the equestrian area. There is a group of 4 trailers with their horses camped here already. So about 8 people with 8 horses including a 11 year old boy who came here trick or treating. :) He got fresh baked chocolate chip cookies I made the day before.

You can just see our picnic table and horse pen behind the coach.  Ray set up our chairs and mat outside to enjoy the day, however the flies are so bad!!!!! We did not attempt to sit out there and spent the afternoon killing the ones that made it inside. At one point there must have been over 50 trying to get in one window over the couch. We are killing about 100 flies a day inside with the swatter!. They are bad since we hit Flaming Gorge, but this is the worst. I don't know how they are getting in besides when we open the door, but they are finding a way. Bought new fly swatters as the old one broke apart. Now we're both armed with a swatter beside us. lol

Although quite warm out, we pulled the nose of the MH straight in, so we're not facing into the sun. Unfortunately, we leveled up the passenger side quite a bit, which makes our getting out of the MH a little hazardous. With our steps broken and raising that side, it's about 2 feet down to the stool so we are definitely being careful and holding on to the handrails. Still no word when the new stairs will be shipped as they are backordered from the factory. With the windows all opened up and a breeze it's quite pleasant all afternoon. 

A small herd of bison came by our fence last night. The park has the horse area all fenced in so the bison don't bother the horses. Everywhere else in the park is free range for them with various watering stations. We only managed to get a picture of one before they scooted off. (out of 12)

We enjoyed a very quiet night, the crickets were noisy until it got fully dark out. Heard some coyotes but other than that it was very quiet. Stayed warmer overnight as well so I didn't have to turn on the Big Buddy Heater until after we got up. 

Tuesday morning, Ray headed out just before sunup for his morning shots. There's tons of bison here in the park. The ranger at the Visitor Centre said they have 350 head currently. Ray talked with one guy in a tent at the far end of the park and he told Ray he was surrounded by them one morning and had to wait 3 hours for them to leave so he could leave his tent! A couple of weeks ago, a tourist posted a You-Tube Video showing the moment a bison turned to charge her on a trail. 

Rebecca Clark’s solo hiking trip to Caprock Canyons State Park in Texas began earlier this month with two days of beautiful sunrises and tent camping, all of which she chronicled on TikTok. But in her next video post, which has been viewed more than 2 million times, Clark’s trip takes a dangerous turn.

One minute, she is waiting for a group of bison to clear the trail. The next she’s running for her life as a bison charges at her. The phone falls as the bison gores her back, off camera, sending her tumbling into a thorny bush yelling in pain. 

With limited cell service, she told The Washington Post, she managed to get word to her son, and rescuers reached her about 50 minutes later. The attack left Clark, 54, hospitalized for six days with a large gash in her back, but she expects to fully recover and return to exploring the outdoors by December.

Ray really loves the look of these rocks with the gypsum stripes.

All our neighbours left with their horses this morning, so we have the place to ourselves.

After he came back from picture taking, he took me for a drive through the rest of the park. Absolutely gorgeous. We saw at least 50 bison in different spots. A lot of them on the road. One guy I was taking a picture of and then he started to move toward us ... outta there. As long as we passed them slowly and did not stop they did not seem to mind.

Picture taken through the passenger window in the car. Shortly after he gave us the "stink eye" and started moving towards the car. We stopped too long.

This baby is probably only 2 weeks old.  Ray managed a picture of it first thing this morning.

This bull pushing his herd off the road.

Bison are not to be confused with Buffalo. 

So how do you tell the difference between buffalo and bison? Bison have large humps at their shoulders and bigger heads than buffalo. They also have beards, as well as thick coats which they shed in the spring and early summer. Another simple way to tell a buffalo from a bison is to look at its horns. Bison horns are shorter and sharper. 

Bison are a keystone species within the prairie ecosystem;  Bison grazing allows plants to flourish, reduces the amount of dead vegetation, and encourages new growth, all of which influence the variety of plants and animals of the prairie. Their role in this ecosystem is as important as prairie fire.

Even the wallowing behavior of bison creates a unique mini-wetland environment while their waste provides needed fertilizer, all benefiting the prairie ecosystem.

Historically, bison were a valuable food source for predators, scavengers and humans. They provided everything needed for human survival on the plains including food, shelter, clothing and tools.
Bison in Texas

At one time, 30 to 60 million bison roamed the North American plains. Early Spanish explorers in Texas, including the Coronado expedition, said they were as numerous as “fish in the sea.”

The vast herds weren’t in danger of extermination until professional hide hunters arrived on the plains. With their superior weaponry, they could kill over 100 bison at a time.

Thus began the “great slaughter.” From 1874 to 1878, hunters decimated the great southern bison herd. Estimates from 1888 were that less than 1,000 head of bison remained in North America.
Preservation of an American icon

Towards the end of the great slaughter, a handful of people worried about the fate of the bison and began the difficult task of saving them. These people took on the care of orphaned calves and started their own herds.

Mary Ann Goodnight urged her husband Charles to capture some orphan calves from the southern herd in 1878. The Goodnights raised the bison calves on the JA Ranch as the nucleus of the Goodnight Herd, which soon grew to over 200 head.

The descendants of these animals now constitute the Texas State Bison Herd. The Goodnight Herd and four other herds provided the foundation stock for virtually all bison in North America today.
The Texas State Bison Herd

Following the death of the Goodnights, the herd faded from public awareness until wildlife conservationist Wolfgang Frey learned about the remaining 50 or so bison on the JA Ranch. He contacted the state of Texas in 1994.

Genetic testing by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department discovered a rare genetic marker revealing that the herd was perhaps the last remaining group of southern plains bison.

The JA Ranch donated the herd to Texas Parks and Wildlife. The state moved the herd to Caprock Canyons State Park in 1997. Unique not only in its historical importance but also in its rare genetic makeup, the herd is now the Official Bison Herd of the state of Texas.

The herd remains in a portion of its natural home range on what was once a part of the JA Ranch and is now Caprock Canyons State Park

We stopped in at the Visitor Centre and chatted. Apparently they now have 350 head and there are 70 momma's that should give birth any day. On top of that, the bulls are in rutting season so very territorial. She also mentioned that they don't like the sound of electric bikes so be careful the brakes squeaking going downhill bother them especially. Since they seem to be everywhere we will not ride the trails with our bikes. The group of horseback riders told us yesterday, that they had to go way around to avoid them the other day. We would not have that option with the bikes.

The rest of the day I spent prepping dinner, Ray worked on pictures and then took off at 3:30 pm to "Prairie Town" where all the prairie dogs are. Apparently when it's hot in the summer the Bison lay on top of the holes as cool air comes out to cool them down. Too funny.

The Prairie dogs were re-introduced to this area in June 2012. 

On June 28, 29 Black-tailed Prairie Dogs were reintroduced to Caprock Canyons State Park’s Honey Flat area as part of a prairie restoration project to return the park’s landscape and wildlife back to its appearance prior to European settlement.

“This is the latest phase in our attempts to restore this prairie ecosystem,” said Donald Beard, Caprock Canyons State Park superintendent. “Restoring the Texas State Bison Herd into the park will probably always be the flagship of our effort, but our plans also include bringing back other animals and native plants to make the land more complete. Adding a prairie dog town is one more part of that, and it will add another popular wildlife viewing opportunity for park visitors.”

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs are an indigenous, keystone species to the Texas Panhandle, but once upon a time, they were hunted, even exterminated to reduce competition for cattle and other livestock. However, recent decades have brought to light information that has begun to change public perception—that prairie dogs can actually play a useful role in the fragile prairie ecology. Grazing by prairie dogs decreases annual and non-native vegetation, such as mesquite trees, while at the same time increasing beneficial perennial grasses such as buffalo grass and blue grama.

The transplanted prairie dogs at Caprock Canyons will be confined within the interior of the 15,000-acre nature preserve to prevent the animals from leaving the park borders. Environmental boundaries such as heavy brush, steep canyon cliffs and natural funnels along with constant monitoring and population management practices will assist park staff in containing the town within the 200-acre defined habitat enclosure.

Of course there were only a few out when Ray went back to get a picture lol. When we came in yesterday the field was covered in them. 

They have a lake for swimming here in the park although the water level is quite low currently. The bison have access to one side of the lake for drinking too.

And of course more bison.

While Ray's out taking pictures, I started cooking our Tomahawk Steak on the BBQ with sweet potato wedges and garlic mushrooms. Delicious.

Wednesday morning Ray's out the door again at 7:30 am to get some more early morning shots. He is getting lots of practice with different settings on his camera. lol The rising sun. There is a big fog bank in behind.

Ray headed down the North Prong Spur Trail for the next pictures. Fortunately he didn't see any bison. They do say you are not supposed to hike by yourself.

Ray also managed to take a video showing the 180 degree view this morning.

This is our last day here, so we decided to drive out of the park and go down highway # 256 on the other end of the park. Wasn't as scenic as we'd hoped. No real colours at this end. The fog bank in the distance became more prevalent but as soon as we got back to the park the sun shone all around us for the rest of the afternoon.

Of course more Bison pictures. This is right at the Visitor's Centre.

We love the views at this park. The only thing we did not like is the flies. You couldn't get away from them inside or outside. We also had hornets find their way inside the coach as well. We spent a lot of time with our fly swatters. :)