Day 47 - Friday -The Day of the Ferret

Day 47 - Friday -The Day of the Ferret

Today we have reservations at the Wild Horse Sanctuary, south of Hot Springs, SD about a 40 mile drive from here.  Our tour starts at 9am so we have an early start.  The drive takes us through Wind Cave National Monument, and as we're driving through, an animal crosses the road ahead of us - an animal the size and color of a Black Footed Ferret.  They're nocturnal, very shy and almost never seen (except in the lab where I work with them at the Phoenix Zoo Conservation Center) but I know them well enough to recognize one when I see one.  The question is, are there any in this park?  Don't have time to stop at the Visitor center so we keep driving.

I won't keep you waiting - we did talk to a Ranger later in the day.  She confirmed that there are 40 or so BFFs in the park so yes, we did see one this morning.  Both that ranger and her colleague are jealous, since they've never seen one, but we're delighted - and shocked.  I never thought I would see one in the wild, even by joining a night tracking session, let alone in daylight.  But we DID!!!!!!!!!!!

We drove on, though the cute little town of Hot Springs, and found the wild horse sanctuary.  This was started, and is still run by Dayton Hyde, a former rancher and rodeo clown - he's now 93.  They have over 500 mustangs - wild horses of various breeds - that run free, and on our bus tour we drove right among them and even got out and interacted with them (when THEY chose to do so).  It was Vicky's choice to do this and she was in her element, taking lots of photos and even scratching one mustang in just the right place to keep her happy.  But I've got to confess I also really enjoyed it.  They also have cows, many of which had young calves, wild turkeys and other animals.

We learned that the government actually rounds up these wild horses, and puts them up for auction.  If they're bought at auction, there's a good chance they will be slaughtered.  If not, they're kept in inhumane conditions for the rest of their lives.  At Dayton's facility, there are free to roam wild over several thousand acres, picking their own herds.  The staff doesn't trouble them but does feed them and watch out for conditions that need a vet.

If you're in the area, this is a great use of 2 hours (ours lasted 2.5) nd you'll be helping a very worthwhile cause.

We headed back up to Hot Springs for lunch.  As I said earlier, the town does look picturesque - the main street  parallel a river - but in walking around we found it's seen better times.  There are many impressive buildings, erected from the local sandstone, but one majestic hotel is now used for low income housing, and another - looking like a castle with crenellations, was bought by a private individual and is closed up.  The town does still have a hot springs bath, the only one of over 12 built in the 19th Century, and we were planning to visit that later.   But first we had lunch - in a former bank.

The visitor center lady told us the Hot Springs would be half price later in the day, so we decided to drive back up to Wind Cave and check out the ferret spotting, then return to "take the waters".  I've already told you about the exciting confirmation we got, but we also got info on the tours you can do of the caves.  Only one of the tours is suitable for Vicky's knees, and all today's tours are full.  SO we decide to come back another day and do the hot springs at that time,  and since it's now later in the day, we'll take the secnic route back through Custer State Park - part we haven't seen yet.

This proves to be an inspired decision, as we see bison, pronghorn and lots of prairie dogs, as well as more wild turkeys.  Our route takes us past the Blue Bell Lodge, another historic lodge named for the symbol of the Northwestern Bell Company, not the flower.  The dining room has reasonable prices so we eat dinner there.  I resist another poutine and enjoy an excellent steak salad, and Vicky's chicken salad is equally good.  We drive home past more animals, and find two cats who are about to expire from starvation (or so they tell us).  So we put out their food, of which they eat 2 bits, and then come to us for love.

Out white tailed deer friend makes an appearance in the meadow, but the highlight of today is still the ferret sighting.