What Kind Of Animals Are In The Black Hills Of Sd

Viewing Wild animals in the Black Hills of South Dakota

Elk, bison, deer, bighorn sheep and more look your inflow

He could tell by the way animals walked that they were keeping fourth dimension to some kind of music. Maybe information technology was the song in their own hearts that they walked to.

Laura Adams Armer, Waterless Mountain

Sponsored Content

Buffalo/bison

Whatever name you use, these lumbering beasts are some of the well-nigh popular sights in South Dakota. You can detect free-roaming herds of America's national mammal at Custer State Park, Badlands National Park, and Wind Cave National Park, but a guaranteed way to spot the entire herd is the almanac Buffalo Roundup. Should you lot come upon them in the wild, keep your altitude and practice non become out of your vehicle. They are seemingly gentle merely deceptively fast and dangerous, and so they're best enjoyed from a safe altitude.

Elk, Antelope & Deer

While whitetail deer can be found all across South Dakota, elk and antelope are mainly found in western South Dakota. Information technology'due south not unusual to encounter any of them bounding forth an open up field in western South Dakota, but Custer State Park and Air current Cave National Park are excellent places to spot them.

Coyote

These wily animals are pretty secretive, moving mostly from dusk to dawn. That makes them hard to spot, only you lot can one-time hear them after dark on the open up prairies. To keep populations under control, it's legal to hunt coyotes. Most coyote hunting happens in the western ii-thirds of South Dakota. For more data on hunting coyote and other predators, click here.

Prairie Dogs and Black-Footed Ferrets

What Lewis & Clark called "barking squirrels" are now known as prairie dogs. They're ambrosial and pretty social, with colonies set up beyond the western two-thirds of the state. Two favorite spots to see the critters are in or near Badlands National Park: Roberts Prairie Domestic dog Town (located approximately five miles from the Pinnacles/Wall archway of Badlands National Park) and Prairie Homestead (21070 SD Highway 240, Philip). The elusive & endangered black-footed ferret as well make their home at Roberts Prairie Domestic dog Boondocks, just they're far shyer than their prairie dog neighbors.

Birds

Beavers, porcupine, foxes & more

There's a wide variety of "varmints" and others in the surface area. Beavers stick to areas well-nigh water sources and can sometimes exist spotted swimming in water well-nigh dawn or dusk. Porcupines enjoy chewing the bark off tree branches while red play a joke on are active from dusk till' dawn but hard to spot. Raccoons are nocturnal and often found in areas near water.

Wild Turkeys

Wild turkeys tin can be found – and sometimes heard – in the Black Hills every bit well as woodland areas beyond the state. You'll immediately notice their vivid red wattles – the bumpy skin that seems to hang from their cervix – that human action as a sort of "mood band" (bright red is used to attract a mate, blue means the turkey is scared) merely keep an eye out for their white-tipped feathers that frequently have bronze or purple reflections.

Mountain Lions

Because mount lions—too called cougars, pumas, and panthers — are both nocturnal and sneaky, it's rare to come across i in the wild. If you do see ane, do not run abroad! Check out the safety tips at the lesser of this page to make sure you stay safety should you have an unlikely mountain king of beasts see.

Mount Goats

Mountain goats are not native to Due south Dakota, but they seem right at habitation in the rocky Black Hills. Most goats in the Blackness Hills descend from a group of six that escaped from then-open Custer Land Park Zoo in the 1920s. Y'all can find these nimble climbers scaling the side of Mountain Rushmore, especially if you come up during morning hours.

Reptiles and Amphibians

South Dakota is abode to a variety of frogs, toads, salamanders and lizards. While sixteen species of snake tin be plant in the land, you're near probable to run across the non-venomous plains garter ophidian. Prairie rattlesnakes besides live here. They are non-aggressive just venomous, and then exercise caution while hiking in sure areas. If you want to bank check a lot of boxes off your wildlife checklist, don't miss Reptile Gardens, home the world'due south largest reptile zoo and more than than ane,000 animals.

Bighorn Sheep

These magnificent beasts have a long and storied history in S Dakota. They are ofttimes spotted in the Black Hills, peculiarly Custer State Park and its Wild animals Loop State Scenic Byway, and in Badlands National Park.

Donkeys

Custer State Park's "beggin' burros" are some of the Black Hills' most popular residents thanks to their friendly nature and predisposition for snacks. You lot're likely to meet a few of them along the 18-mile Wild fauna Loop Road that winds around the southern edge of the park. Park rules prohibit feeding whatsoever wildlife in the park, so please employ adept judgement and understand the potential risks of interactions with the burros.

Be Safe!

While hiking, you may encounter wild turkeys, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, deer, elk, coyote and other wild fauna. Almost of these are harmless but please do caution and, of form, do not feed whatever of the wildlife you might see.