Photo Friendly Prairie Dog Towns

[icephoto]

Friends -

As the title reflects, I'm looking for photo friendly prairie dog town. Ideally somewhere that my 300mm/1.4 TC combo will get me some degree of up close and personal. Closer to my neck of the woods is better but I'm willing to travel for the right location.

Any thoughts?

Thanks - jim

[bburton]

Try here: http://fwnc.org/

[CaptainTom]

It would be haul for you. There are lots of "dogs" right by the road. I got some great shots with a 300 without the telextender. The rest of the refuge is also worth the trip.

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges...hitamountains/

[Bruce M. Morris]

where Tom Said.. they have really big prairie dog towns and I was able to shoot there with a 100 and pretty much fill the frame. That was a few years ago though so I dont know if they are as friendly now. Wichita Mts also have buffalo, Longhorns and lots of other wildlife..

[carrbowl]

Jim up in Big Spring there is a park up on the mesa. Tons of people go "walk the mountain" and there are a kazillion prairie dogs there. Take 87 north to FM700 (if memory serves me correctly and turn left (west) and the park is less than a mile on your left. If you want more info, just let me know, I can find the park itself if you want more info.

[rockpics]

We've got a prairie dog town in Redbud Park behind the YMCA. There are also some at the zoo here in Abilene. Both the one at Redbud Park and the one at the zoo are enclosed by a low stone wall. I don't have any pictures to show you because I've never had anything but a P&S with me when I walk the track near the park. I've taken photos, but they weren't good, so I trashed them. Some of the prairie dog holes are really close to the wall at both the zoo and the park, so you should have no trouble with your 300 mm lens. I think you should be able to see the prairie dog enclosure from the playground near the Y if you look toward HWY 83/84 (We call it Winter's Freeway).

[icephoto]

Thank you all for your suggestions and all have workability.

Big Spring is probably my first choice because I owe myself a trip back to that area after a reasonably unsuccessful Sandhill Crane trip not last winter but the winter before. We went through the park but being winter there wasn't much to see.

I've not really been to Abilene other than a trip with my photo club to see a program from a Canon Pro Rep at a meeting of the West Texas Photographic Society, so that is a trip that is on my list.

Ft Worth Nature Center and Witchita Mountains Wildlife Refuge are for reasons I will not elaborate on here, possibilities given some necessary travel to Dallas and Witchita Falls over the next few months.

I promise I will post the results of these trips when/if they happen.

Many thanks again - jim

[amadjuster]

Schedule a trip to Buffalo Lake Wildlife Preserve next Spring. It is about 15 miles west of Canyon. If you go just south of the boundry, you'll find the little darlin's breeding like rabbits in the barrow ditches. Just pull over and snap away, you won't bother them at all. They even have burrows in the barrow ditch and they might just pop up out of the pavement! We find it amusing when we hear some animal rights dude talk about how the prairie dog needs to be protected because he is almost extinct. Every now and then a crew comes down from Colorado and vacuums them out of their holes and sells them to the Japanese as pets. I don't think they charge any extra for the fleas.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

I was going to mention the BigSpring PrarieDog complex out by the old abandoned airport.

[David_Janaskie]

I 2nd the Wichita Mtns hear Lawton, OK. I've been up there a bunch of times. Backpacking, photography, etc. Very approachable wildlife. You don't need the big lenses to shoot the prairie dogs. And the elk, bison, deer, longhorns are easy to shoot, as well.


(couldn't find my prairie dog pics)

[Zylone]

I know there is one in Snyder, Tx. It is a pretty large area close to the park. I use to go there as a kid when visiting my grandparents. I must remember to stop by there next time I visit to get some good pictures!