Bison thriving in what could best be described as borderline unsurvivable weather conditions.
There aren’t any warming centers or heated blankets for animals out in the wild. They have no other choice but to tough it out, and as you’ve likely heard before, it truly is survival of the fittest (and the warmest). And if there’s one animal that can handle the cold with ease, it’s the bison.
Bison are the largest mammals in North America. Fully grown male bison stand at 6 feet tall and can weigh around 2,000 pounds at their heaviest, which if you don’t know, is a full ton. They are considered to be social animals, so they prefer to travel in groups. Bison herds can be as small as 10 animals, or as large as thousands.
It often depends on the season of the year (breeding season in July and August usually leads to the biggest herds of the year).
The bison herd you’ll see in this video is sparse, but still strong. We’re in the middle of the winter season (many of us know that very well with snow and ice currently on the ground), and in Grand Teton National Park, the winters can best be described as brutally beautiful. It’s a winter wonderland… but temperatures are frankly unbearable.
The good news is that bison can handle it. As bison head into the winter season, their coat thickens up to counter the frigid temperatures and blankets of snow that often fall in their North Americans habitats. Those wooly coats play an intricate role in keeping them warm through the winter, and apparently create such a layer of insulation that snow that lands on their coat will not melt from the heat the bison’s skin gives off.
Bison pair their thickening coats (and skin) with their ability to derive sufficient nutrients from very small amounts of food, which is usually vegetation that peeks through the snow. All of these qualities allow for bison to survive the toughest of winter conditions, and those conditions were shown in the breathtaking footage below out of Grand Teton National Park.
With the Teton Mountain Range (part of the Rocky Mountains) framing the entire shot, the bison herd navigated the frozen tundra and kept things moving… probably just to keep a little warmer. Photographer Dakota Levy, who posted the remarkable footage, shared that the temperature at the time of the recording was -15 degrees:
“After nearly a month of rainy, warm weather, we finally have the return of winter in the Tetons. Unfortunately, with the fresh snow came sub-zero temps. The bison didn’t seem fazed by the weather, but my hands were cold, and I could hear the trees popping from the -15° temperature.”
Such a beautiful setting that it almost doesn’t even feel real, am I right?
That’s just Grand Teton National Park for you. It doesn’t get much better than seeing a peaceful herd of bison grazing with the Teton Mountain Range in the background. If you look up “picturesque” in the dictionary, it would probably reference you to a video like this. I’d say that I’m jealous that the bison get to see that everyday… but then again, that weather looks absolutely brutal. It’s a good thing that bison are quite literally built for the cold.
Here’s more incredible work from Dakota… give him a follow:
