Wildlife.....

  

The elk have the right idea for cooling off and also to repel flies.  We visited Jester Park in Polk County Iowa,  this morning and saw these beasts hanging out in the pond. 

 

 

The buffalo were also standing around in their pond.  I have seen photos of them out in the fields but today they were in a bunch.  We were not allowed to stop to see them so we had to shoot photos from the car with a quick pause along the road. Before our statehood the prairie was filled with herds of these animals.  We have a larger preserve in Iowa, the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge,  where the herd has a large range to move and one can drive among them but not get out of the car. There is a lot of restored prairie in that park.