We’ve arrived at our next stop: Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan and it is unlike any park we’ve been to so far. The conspicuous lack of trees is the first thing I noticed; there are so few the park actually has each tree marked on the map. Probably the most striking thing about Grasslands is the seemingly endless, gently rolling hills reaching far across the horizon. This unique habitat is perfect for a whole variety of remarkable animals including: plains bison, burrowing owls, sage grouse, prairie dogs, pronghorns and the very endangered black-footed ferret to name a few.
Our first stop was one of the huge prairie dog colonies in the park. They let out a few warning calls as we approached but they clearly have lots of experience with interested humans as they soon went about their business munching on grass. However, when a badger (a predator of prairie dogs) started sauntering among the burrows, the prairies dogs disappeared one by one. We also noticed the prairie dogs weren’t the only ones utilizing the burrows; burrowing owls and black widow spiders both make their homes in abandoned burrows. We even spotted a pair of the small owls perched on the lip of a distant burrow and saw lots of large, funnel shaped webs descending into the older burrows.
-Jon
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