Warm, lazy summer days give way to frosty autumn mornings. Bull bison become aggressive in the fall rut. A bison kicks up some prairie dust as it rises from its wallow. A meadowlark is startled by the disturbance and flies off.

Soon, meadowlarks will migrate south to warmer climes. Bison, on the other hand, will remain and endure the bitter cold winter of the prairies.

The vast grasslands of North America were once home to a seemingly inexhaustible number of bison and meadowlarks. Today, few of these animals inhabit the prairie landscape. They belong to the prairies.