Animal sightings

Live animals spotted on the trip:

250,000 bats - without a doubt, at nearly a quarter of a million, Mexican free-tail bats at Carlsbad Caverns, NM, were the most numerous species of animal we saw on the trip.

736 bison - at Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park, SD, plus a few in Colorado

[squirrels - we didn't count them]

44 turkeys, NY, MI, SD

26 deer, NM, TX, MS, WV, NY, MI, SD

17 wild burros, Custer State Park, SD

14 prairie dogs, SD

11 rabbits, NM, PA, NY, OH, NE

10 pronghorn antelope, NM, SD

2 golden eagle, MS, CO

1 beaver, NY

1 elk, UT

1 muskrat, NY

1 skunk, MI

1 snapping turtle, OK

1 woodchuck, NY

Road Kill (yes, keeping track of this stuff helped on those long driving days; no, we didn't hit anything besides bugs on the windshield):

63 unknown
18 raccoons
15 opposums
11 porcupines
11 skunks
9 rabbits
8 coyotes
8 squirrels
7 armadillos
5 deer
5 small birds
4 woodchucks
3 red foxes
2 badgers
2 grey foxes
2 marmots
2 snakes
1 bobcat
1 moose
1 vulture

Biggest Bug: Stick bug in Austin, TX. Seen on the wall in front of Bret - it's bigger than his hand!