Curious calves

Last night, while surveying the bison, I found myself in a rather precarious position when the entire herd decided to walk over and closely scrutinize me.  This behavior surprised me as, until this point, the new bison mothers had regarded me with suspicion and would anxiously call to their calves and flee whenever I approached.

 Some of the older calves got their first close look at a human.

The dominant bull approaching.  This is the last photograph I took from a kneeling position, which is what I think prompted him to investigate me in the first place.  Of all the bison he is the one I trust the least.  Usually he will just come over to see what I'm doing, but, on occasion, he'll decide he needs to put me in my place. 

Things got a little dicey when the dominant bull decided to size me up.  Normally I always ensure I have a place to retreat to when interacting with the herd, but this time I didn't.

Calves listening intently to the strange sound of a human voice.  As the first human they've encountered, I'm an interesting and sometimes frightening creature to them. 

Fortunately, the bull decided I wasn't that interesting and the herd eventually moved on.