A Meetup With the Animals of Ouichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge

October 9-13, 2017

The Witchita Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma is famous for its hills, its bison, longhorns, elk, and prairie dogs.  I have a friend who was living in Lawton, the town nearest to the refuge, and visited her on my fall migration. She and I spent time here and I spent another day there by myself while she worked. The manager there is one of my old bosses from Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.  I got to catch up a little with him when he invited me to supper.  So I have way too many pictures for one blog.  I found lots of longhorns, each of which is worthy of a portrait and a few bison, as well as some of the other animal inhabitants.

This was my first meetup with a longhorn

I thought this old bull was going to be the only one I found

A Swainson's hawk I found on the way into the refuge

Cindy caught up with me for lunch and then took me to see the prairie dogs

They were still in their family groups but the young were visiting back and forth with their neighbors

Cindy found two very unexpected woodcooks right at the edge of the prairie dog town.  I love one of their nick names, timberdoodles.  The are a shorebird who loves to live in woods with soft soils as they eat earthworms. 

A young flicker was already in migration

I asked, my old boss, Dave, why the horns on these animals are so smalll.  (I'm used to horns way longer in Texas.) He said that only steers grow long horns.  And the steers are way more ornery so they no longer geld their bulls. 

Cindy and I had to shoo this guy off after he kept coming closer and closer as though he wanted a pet

I love how each animal is unique

But then each one seems more hansome than the next

This darling calf, only a few days old captivated us. This picture probably told the most about him as he is with his parents.  Dad was already waiting for mom to come into estrus.

I caught this crow doing his sunrise stretches

And there were lots of mourning doves about

I found part of the bison herd on the last evening I was there.

Thanks in advance for your comments. Its always good to hear from you. 

Hope you are having a great Thanksgiving and will get to go out and enjoy nature tomorrow.