"We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree;
But the whole of which these are shining parts, is the soul."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
~ 1803-1882
What a sweet baby bison, and the first I’ve ever
photographed!
Sweet and simple and simply sweet. That’s what I
thought on seeing this beautiful female American Bison calf sipping water on a
warm spring evening at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania,
where bison live as a herd on the hillsides of the 1,100-acre preserve’s
Central Range.
I captured this shot in June, three weeks after the
calf’s birth, and her mother stood closeby.
When the late General Harry C. Trexler established the
preserve in the early 1900s, he did it to save the American bison, elk and
white-tailed deer from extinction and assure the species’ survival.
A conservationist along the lines of Theodore
Roosevelt and John Muir, General Trexler understood the importance of nature
and preserving wildlife in its natural habitat.
A successful businessman who amassed a fortune in the
timber and cement industries and founded the Pennsylvania Power and Light
Company, General Trexler began purchasing small farms in the low hills of
Lehigh County in 1906. By 1913, he had transported eight bison and 20 Virginia
white-tailed deer to the preserve. The elk followed soon after.
When General Trexler died in 1933, he bequeathed the
property to the residents of Lehigh County. Today, the Trexler Nature Preserve
is open to the public for passive recreation and nature watching.
The American Bison was recently designated the first
national mammal of the United States. The majestic bison joins the bald eagle
as a national symbol.
