Happily Exploring Prairies with Your Family

A tall prairie is a magical mixture of distances, vastness, movement and surprise that can only be discovered when you are out in the midst of it. Tall grass prairie is an accumulation of hundreds of different species of grass that grows as tall as 10 feet. Grass such as Big Blue Stem and Indian grass bend, these sway in the breeze and the entire landscape can appeal like billowing waves of ocean.
Activities
Learning to Look
Many people think that looking around prairies is a dull and monotonous job to concern. But if you give a closer look prairie land will fascinate anyone. One should make a point not to visit the land by car but to join a ranger guided walk out in to grass land. The ranger will let one to learn how to find burrows that might be home to prairie mouse, and at the same time will one make to learn how to identify animal tracks and bird songs and flowers.
On our own prairie walk one can take binoculars and magnifying glass along, to one can enjoy the magic world of hidden in a subtle landscape.
Galaxy of Wild Flowers
It can be enjoyed from early spring to autumn, there are two peak seasons: late spring (mid May to mid June) and again in late summer (August - September). If one may visit prairie in spring one may find that the pasque flower barely poking through the mat of dead grass, later blooming flowers like cornflowers, and spiderworts are tall enough to keep their heads above the grass, where insects can pollinate them. This is when you can witness a brilliant carpet of flowers as far as the eye can see.
Birding
Early morning and early evening are the best times to see birds, as well as other animals. One might discover their tracks along a stream. Though, when children think of birds they too think of trees, which on them the birds reside. But on these prairie lands birds don't have their homes on trees but these live in burrows, or they nest on the ground like horned larks. When these prairie birds sing, these birds sing in the air. If you visit the prairies in March through April, listen for the blooming call of mail prairie chickens as they take on their ritual combat. One might even get a chance to see them performing their spectacular mating dance. Through out the spring and summer one cannot miss the sweet lilting tune of the meadowlark work, for it is one the loudest of the songsters.
Where the Buffalo Roam
The popular name for the symbol of the Old West is the buffalo, although the more popular name is the North American Bison. Whatever name we may give them these are unpredictable animals, these can run fast and jump great distances. When one can hiking on the prairie, one should maintain a good distance between the animals, the only good and safe measure is to view them is from car, as this is an opportunity to quickly pull of in to the shoulder and observe. Many wild animals are less likely to be spooked by cars than by people on foot.
Destinations
Tall Grass Prairie Oklahoma
It is now on its way towards recreating a functioning tall grass prairie, ecosystem using fire and bison. In 1989 the Nature Conservancy purchased a 30 thousand acre called ranch in North Central Oklahoma. One can stop and see the historic ranch head quarters and bunk house, self guided nature traits out in to the prairie.
Prairie State Park Missouri
It is also known as Virgin Prairie as the sod was never broken by a plow. Until this park was established it was used for grazing and haying, now the state park has more than 10 miles of trail and a full time naturalist on staff. Back country camping is also available here.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
This is one of the most fascinating state and one of the major well springs of America's conservation ethic philosophy that created the diverse system of National Parks, forests, wet lands, and wild life preserves that we enjoy today. It was in the North Dakota's Badlands and short land prairies that the Theodore Roosevelt, the first environment President developed the disciplined mind and turbulent spirit that would propel him to the White House. Today he is memorialized in one of the most beautiful and one of least visited national parks, and the only one named after a president.
President Roosevelt established the U.S Forest Service and created the National Wildlife Refuge System by signing an Executive order to protect the birds of Pelican Island Florida. To add to his achievements he also established 5 national parks, 18 national monuments and a total of 55 wildlife refuges.