{"id":8122,"date":"2013-04-16T05:20:36","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T11:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8122"},"modified":"2026-02-13T08:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:28:11","slug":"spring-time-bison-bull-on-antelope-island-state-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/16\/spring-time-bison-bull-on-antelope-island-state-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Time Bison Bull On Antelope Island State Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Bison bull grazing on the new grasses of spring- Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1\/320, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 130mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Bison on Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> are starting to show signs of shedding their winter coats and for awhile they will look a bit ratty. In this image you can see a couple of patches where the winter coat has been shed, directly behind the bison’s right front leg, in front of the right back leg, and its hindquarters.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bison bull scratching his belly – Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1\/640, ISO 250,\u00a0 Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The bison do a whole lot of scratching while they shed, on the ground, against the huge boulders that dot the island and if they can they rub against some of the signs. It must feel good to eventually get the loosened winter coat completely off.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bison bull rubbing his belly on the grass – Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1\/750, ISO 250, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 130mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This bull rocked back and forth against the ground in this position for over a minute. I am still not sure what he was doing.<\/p>\n

\"ItIt takes a lot of work to get a bison bull on its feet- Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1\/640, ISO 250, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 135mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n

Afterwards the bull stood up and started to graze. It is lovely to see the grassy slopes of the island turning green, to see the silvery green new growth on the sagebrush and feel the warmth of the sun on my own skin.<\/p>\n

These spring time American Bison<\/span><\/a> bull images were taken two days ago. Yesterday I woke to a very light snow on the ground and there may be snow flurries today. Crazy weather is normal for spring in Utah.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my American Bison photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The American Bison on Antelope Island are starting to show signs of shedding their winter coats and for awhile they will look a bit ratty. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[443,511,1022,26],"tags":[4463,9588,4663,745,4350,4314,11978,3747,4109,4352,11381,4541,4351,165,4032],"class_list":["post-8122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bison","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-american-bison","tag-belly","tag-bison","tag-bison-bison","tag-buffalo","tag-bull","tag-desert-island","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-grazing","tag-rubbing","tag-scratching","tag-shedding","tag-spring","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/american-bison-bull-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-4665.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-270","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4739,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/05\/bison-bull-shedding\/","url_meta":{"origin":8122,"position":0},"title":"American Bison Bull Shedding","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Every day that I spend in the field is always marvelous but it seems especially wonderful during the change of seasons because I feel a heightened sense of anticipation for the first of the year birds, the first spotting of wildflowers blooming or the seasonal changes that wildlife exhibits in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Shedding Bison bull grazing near White Rock Bay, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this bison bull grazing on a crisp January morning I recall how cold my hands and cheeks were and that I could hear the crunching sounds the bull made as he ate.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bison bull grazing on a crisp January morning, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/american-bison-bull-snow-mia-mcpherson-1254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/american-bison-bull-snow-mia-mcpherson-1254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First of Year Swainson's Hawk with snowy mountains in the background","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/swainsons-hawk-snow-mia-mcpherson-4962.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/swainsons-hawk-snow-mia-mcpherson-4962.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/swainsons-hawk-snow-mia-mcpherson-4962.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/swainsons-hawk-snow-mia-mcpherson-4962.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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