Tag: wildlife

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Embrace the Funk

By Michael Zimny

Could skunks be considered our misunderstood friends of the animal kingdom?

Skunks get a bad rap. Processes evolutionary (or divine) enhanced their ani with powerful stink glands they can weaponize when threatened.

Their distinctive color schemes are also aposematic, reminding potential predators that they come strapped with the stink gun. That aposematism has also permeated the human psyche. When was the last time you saw a runway model rock a skunk hat?

But maybe it’s time we reach out to our striped (or sometimes spotted) sisters and brothers. They just want to be free to go about their skunky lives in peace. Their anal defense isn’t a weapon of war — it’s a unilaterally-imposed armistice, peace through stank.

The chemical compounds that make skunk spray so noxious are called thiols. Thiols in onions make you cry. Your colleagues might notice the thiols from the garlic chicken you had at the lunch buffet. But in the right proportions, that garlic and onion funk adds flavor to your life. Similarly, some people openly enjoy the sweetish fragrance of a dissipated skunk spray.

Skunk evolution engineered a way to leverage the skunky goodness in your French onion soup into a recipe for not being dinner. Maybe that deserves some respect.

“I find skunks to be endlessly fascinating because they are so fearless yet non-aggressive,” says Dr. Ted Stankowich, who directs research into evolutionary behavioral ecology at California State University. “They go about their night looking for food and won’t bother you or other creatures, but if you harass them or get too close, they will strongly signal that you’d better move away. Skunks don’t want to spray you — so they’ll do everything in their power to tell you to leave without actually spraying.”

Before spraying, a striped skunk will methodically check off a list of warning behaviors. (Mephitis mephitis is the only skunk common in South Dakota, although the plains spotted skunk — Spilogale putorius interrupta — can be found). “It first and almost universally will raise its tail,” says Stankowich. “It may foot stamp with its front feet, charge at the intruder, and even hiss. Finally, it will turn and aim its rear end toward the predator, in a final warning, before it actually sprays.”

Skunks are natural-born de-escalators. You almost have to want a skunk bath (or be a dog) to get sprayed.

So, while there’s no dearth of searchable articles on how to get rid of backyard skunks, this how-to is for those who choose coexistence with our striped or spotted cousins.

FOOD & DRINK

“If you actually want skunks in your yard, leaving fruit, nuts and especially dry cat food scattered about would be a dream come true for them,” says Stankowich. “When we want to keep a skunk in a particular area of grass for a behavioral experiment, we scatter dry cat food all over the place and they’ll spend a long time eating it up. Leaving pans of clean water would draw them in too — especially in dry times of the year. Skunks require a nearby source of water, and having a watering station would encourage them to come back.”

“Skunks are omnivores and eat a wide variety of food, including small mammals, amphibians, insects (one third to one half of their diet), eggs, small birds, fruits and nuts. Most of these are found on the ground or under the grass, so they keep the insect and small pest populations down to some extent.”

SHELTER

Building a skunk hotel may also help attract our misunderstood friends. “If you want skunks to den in your yard, piles of rocks or wood with cavities underneath would be ideal den sites. We often find them under rotting stumps, piles of old wood or asphalt, and under homes or other structures. So providing shelter with a natural cavity will help.”

BENEFITS OF BUILDING SKUNK HABITAT

You’ll get some insect and rodent control out of the deal. And you may even increase your chances for owl visitation. “Skunks are only rarely killed by other mammals,” says Stankowich, “but more commonly by owls.” Skunk enthusiasts may undergo an emotional tug of war watching an enormous great horned owl carry off the creatures we welcomed into our outdoor abode. But skunk lovers are a tough breed.

RARER SKUNKS

Some lucky homeowner may even see the less common plains spotted skunk take up residence.

“We do not know exactly how this species’ distribution has changed, but we hear from many people that they do not see as many spotted skunks today as in the past,” says Eileen Dowd-Stukel, a wildlife biologist for South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, and co-author of Sharing Your Space: A Homeowner’s Guide to Attracting Backyard Wildlife.

“That is apparently true in other areas, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the status of this subspecies to see if listing under the federal Endangered Species Act may be needed. We have secured funding for a project to be conducted through Kansas State University to learn more about distribution, habitat needs, and survival rates. This information will help us better understand what may be limiting the spotted skunk in South Dakota.”

“As far as attracting skunks, providing diverse habitats, including areas of cover for both the skunks and potential prey, are helpful. We’ve lost many old farmsteads that previously had the mixture of shelter sources and habitat types that sustained spotted skunks.”

Michael Zimny is the social media engagement specialist for South Dakota Public Broadcasting in Vermillion. He blogs for SDPB and contributes arts columns to the South Dakota Magazine website.

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Frosty Wonderland

By Christian Begeman

Winter weather is not usually described in complimentary terms. Subzero temps, the threat of blizzards along with long nights and short days make it difficult to stay on the sunny side of life during a long, South Dakota winter. But there is a certain phenomenon that occurs during our cold months that defies negativity. You could even say that what happens is magical, or maybe miraculous. How else would you describe an event that has the power to turn a dreary, near colorless landscape into a whole new vision of white sparkling scenery? Granted, I may be a little more enthusiastic than most about frost because it is so fun to photograph. Even so, from the smallest ice-spiked detail to a vast winter white vista, frost has the ability to create an actual winter wonderland.

This year, we’ve had snowfall followed by warm spells. The snowmelt puts moisture in the air, and then freezing temps overnight bring fog. This is the perfect recipe for frost. For years, I called the frost from fog”hoarfrost,” but I’ve recently learned that what I shoot is more likely a type of rime frost or ice. Rime ice is similar to what sailors deal with on the sea in cold weather. It happens when super cooled water droplets freeze and attach to an exposed surface that is below freezing. The two kinds of rime are”hard rime” and”soft rime.” I would never have known the difference until this year’s frost quests in late November and late December.

On my way to visit family for Thanksgiving, I ran into thick fog in Edmunds and Walworth counties. There was a steady wind and plenty of moisture in the air, so I knew it would be optimal frost-making weather. On Thanksgiving morning, Dad and I drove out to see Jack Frost’s handiwork and were not disappointed. A thick, hard rime had formed on windward fence lines, trees and tall grass. A couple more frost events took place in southeastern South Dakota in December. One of those had frost designs that I don’t remember seeing before. Long, thick needles of ice formed on the corners of certain leaves and grasses and left tiny designs similar to jumping jacks hanging on the edges. It turns out this kind of frost is soft rime, and the leaves on which I found it — at Big Sioux Recreation Area near Brandon — couldn’t have been more beautiful.

I had the morning off during another frost event in late December, so I took a drive to see if I could find new scenes of beauty a little farther afield. In Lake County, the sun came out for a few minutes east of Ramona, just as I spotted an old barn with a red brick silo standing sentinel. The red-orange color contrasted with the sun-brightened, white landscape in a remarkable way. That same morning, I happened upon a happy Northern Cardinal couple foraging along the trail at Lake Herman State Park. The male would fly up from the ground intermittently in order to scan the area for intruders. During one of those look out sessions, I happened to catch a photo of his exquisite red feathers against the white of the frosted morning. It was another magical moment brought by the cold beauty of a South Dakota frosted morning, and another reason why it wouldn’t take much to convince me that there is a little bit of magic at play on a frosty day.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Oh Deer

Photographer Christian Begeman avoided the big deals Thanksgiving weekend and went for big game instead. His travels took him to Walworth County, Custer State Park and the Badlands, where he found deer and other wildlife engaged in romantic pursuits.”I came across a mule buck that had added a crown of thistle to his rack. It must’ve worked, as I watched him court a doe and take care of business,” Begeman says.”The bighorn sheep were active and I heard the crack of horns echo through the valleys more than once. I did not witness any of those hostilities, but the big rams were on the move.”

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A New Day in the Badlands

By Christian Begeman

There are few early morning scenarios that excite me. I’m not one to pop right out of bed and feel great. I need time to wake up, get the grogginess out and get the brain functioning at the proper levels. Spending the first hours of the day in Badlands National Park, however, has a way of getting me up and going every time. I haven’t done it a lot, but the rugged beauty, abundant wildlife and overall peace and calm of the new day dawning over the Badlands has never disappointed.

On August 25, the National Park Service commemorated its 101st birthday. They asked fans to submit haiku poetry to help celebrate on social media. I had just spent an incredible morning in the Badlands, where I photographed my first ever bobcat in the wild and witnessed a unique, hazy sunrise caused by humidity and wildfires in neighboring states. All I remembered about haiku was that the first line has five syllables, the second line has seven and the third line goes back to five. I’m sure there are more rules, but I didn’t take the time to look them up. I chose two photos from my late August morning and wrote the following:

We gazed at the sun.

The ground was broken and bent.

Song sprang from shadows.

— Inspired by the sun rising over Panoramic Point

Ears above tall grass,

Eyes along the rugged ridge.

Hunger gnaws within.

— Inspired by the bobcat

Now whether those are good haiku or not is up for debate. For me, the fun came in reflecting on the morning and the images I captured in this new way. With that in mind, I resolved to go back to the Badlands this month, capture what I saw and then present it to you in this column.

Again, the Badlands did not disappoint. The first thing I noticed, just as the sky began to brighten, was what appeared to be a vast white lake in the valley below the formations. A low fog had settled, rendering the views almost primordial. Soon the sun rose, illuminating and coloring the clouds over Norbeck Pass. A little later, I passed a small group of bighorn rams along the park road. I drove ahead to where I thought I wouldn’t stress them as I took photos. They ended up walking right by me. One of them serendipitously passed on the driver’s side where I was huddled down, and I snapped as many photos as I could. One starburst photo out of a dozen exposures was my favorite shot of the morning. I couldn’t have planned it or executed it again if I tried. During moments and mornings like this, I can’t help but think of a line in a favorite hymn:”All things are mine, because I am His. How can I keep from singing?” (or photographing in my case).

I guess dawn in Badlands National Park has a way of bringing out the awe and wonder in a person. Whether it is a haiku, a perfect photo or an old hymn of praise, the rugged beauty of one of our state’s finest gems continues to inspire … especially in the light of a new day.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Looping Along

Photography by Stephen Gassman

Story by Katie Hunhoff

“I would rather be remembered as an artist than as a United States senator,” said Peter Norbeck.

If art imitates nature, then Norbeck’s wish is reality because his conservation advocacy resulted in the creation of parks, preserves and bird sanctuaries nationwide. His greatest environmental canvas is Custer State Park, and a favorite way to enjoy the park is a ribbon of road known as the Wildlife Loop, an 18-mile auto tour through prairie and pine forest.

“He was attracted to and loved natural beauty,” wrote Gilbert Fite in his biography of Norbeck.”A deer grazing in a protected glade in his beloved Black Hills, a flock of honkers winging northward, or trees, lakes and mountains blended into a picture of serene beauty — to him were the embodiment of art in nature.”

Growing up in Clay County as the son of a minister-farmer, young Norbeck gained an appreciation for the natural world. In his childhood, the fauna of the Black Hills was changing. Wolves, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and bears disappeared, and the bison was nearly hunted to extinction.

Norbeck became a well driller. He began to champion the notion of a state park in the southern Black Hills after a trip to the Custer area in 1905, but little was accomplished until he arrived in Pierre as a state legislator and persuaded his fellow lawmakers to create a state game preserve. When the park was fenced (under Norbeck’s supervision) in 1914, he estimated there were possibly as few as 15 deer in the entire 61,000 acres.

The state soon purchased 36 head of buffalo from the Philip ranch at Fort Pierre, and today 1,300 call the park home. Elk were reintroduced in 1916 and bighorn sheep were brought from the Canadian Rockies. Black bear sightings have been reported, but never confirmed.

Nearly 200 species of birds live in the park or migrate through in the four seasons.”The park is where east meets west, so there is a crossover of birds you won’t find in other places,” says Craig Pugsley, the park’s visitor services coordinator.

And burros arrived in the 1960s.”They were being used to haul visitors to the top of Harney Peak,” says Pugsley.”When they discontinued the rides, the burros were let go in the park. They are such a hit with visitors that they’ve always let them remain.”

The Wildlife Loop’s attraction is its natural beauty and wildness, just as Norbeck intended. Elk are rarely seen from the loop, except in springtime when the grass along the loop road is greenest. And don’t expect wolves or grizzlies to reappear. Pugsley says the park might be a tad too civilized to accommodate them. The elk and sheep agree.

But the other flora and fauna of today give visitors a view of the untamed West, a God-given masterpiece that survives only because of some strokes by artist Peter Norbeck.

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the July/August 2014 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call (800) 456-5117.

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Signs of Life

By Christian Begeman

Spring’s arrival can be fickle in these parts. I suppose I should consider the starts and stops of warm weather in March and April as a lesson in patience. It’s not easy, but once the long arm of winter finally exits for good, it makes the heady days of late spring all the better. For the last five years, I’ve compiled a”spring journal,” as the land awakens with life in South Dakota. It’s a true testament to our state’s varied weather that as I write this, it is raining here in northeast Sioux Falls, while most of the prairie west of the Missouri has seen snow all day. The good news is that snow means moisture and April snow always melts quickly. Here’s to another spring awakening in South Dakota!

February 20

A week and a half of unseasonably warm temperatures melted all the snow and brought my first sighting of snow geese in McCook County.

March 16

While driving the backroads of Clay County, I stopped to shoot a weathered, white barn against the soft sunset colors. The air was warm with a touch of humidity and I smelled”spring” for the first time in 2017.

March 20

I was in Lake County near Lake Madison Lutheran in a quest to photograph sunset on the first day of spring.

April 1

An epic dawn. I started in the darkness of a blind about 4 miles west of Highway 83 waiting to observe sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chickens perform their early spring dance. While waiting, a jaw-dropping sunrise sky filled the eastern horizon. I took a couple wide shots, then put on my long telephoto with hopes of getting a semi on the road to silhouette against the sky. Just as I got set, two cattle trucks topped the distant hill.

April 1

Grouse dance. As the morning brightened, the lek came alive with the sights and sounds of the grouse doing their thing. To my left were the sharp-tailed grouse, and to my right the prairie chickens held court. I couldn’t have asked for a better location to watch the events unfold.

April 1

Evening pasque. After taking a brief nap in Pierre, I headed back to Sioux Falls along the backroads. In Hanson County, I saw several stands of pasqueflowers in bloom. I spent an hour or two shooting their portraits in the last light of a rare day with no wind on the prairie hills.

April 8

Bloodroot were blooming at Union Grove on a 60-plus-degree afternoon. Since I was close, I drove to Spirit Mound Historic Prairie and came across a long ditch full of chorus frogs belting out their song. These little guys are barely bigger than my thumb, but sitting just 3 or 4 feet away from them, they made my ears ring.

April 13

I took a hike at Big Sioux Recreation area near Brandon after work. I found some plum brush in bloom and a handful of Ruby-crowned Kinglets foraging in the younger trees. It was the first time I actually saw and photographed the ruby crown for which they are named.

April 15

I drove back to my hometown of Isabel for Easter weekend. I left Sioux Falls while it was still dark in a thunderstorm and drove through rain all the way to the Missouri River. This is a view of Highway 212 in Faulk County with a rain shower in the distance and a unique rainbow over the Missouri River Hills in Potter County (near Whitlock Bay).

April 16

Easter sunset in northern Brule County saw the sun emerge on the horizon under low hanging rain clouds, which added unique and beautiful coloring to the western horizon.

April 17

70 degrees and sunshine inspired me to take a hike at Newton Hills State Park south of Canton. I spotted my first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (I love that name) and a strikingly colored green dragonfly amonsgt the buds along Sergeant Creek.

April 21

Just before midnight, an outburst of northern lights illuminated the sky above a calm Scotts Slough northwest of Hartford. I enjoyed the late night show in a light jacket instead of a winter coat.

April 23

Blue sky, wispy clouds and blooming, fragrant plum brush highlight my hike at Good Earth State Park.

April 25

A rainy day in Sioux Falls and snow in much of the rest of the state. Hopefully this is truly the last gasp of Old Man Winter. Only time will tell.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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A Week at the Dells

By Christian Begeman

Six evenings and a day. That’s the time I set aside in the month of May to search out and photograph springtime ornaments at one of my favorite places found within 20 miles of my home. Six evenings and a day… and I wish I could have gone more. The place? The Dells of the Big Sioux River just south of Dell Rapids. The reason? To search for pretty little things to photograph. Things like wildflowers and warblers. The terrain is unique with steep cliffs, natural stairs and stony perches that help to get to eye level with our feathered friends. And to be honest, that’s really how I first came to think of the Dells as more than just a neat place where the river had cut through 40 feet of Sioux quartzite, carving an impressive canyon in the middle of the eastern South Dakota prairie.

A couple years ago, I stumbled upon the warbler migration that travels through our state in May right there at the Dells. As I was sitting on a stony perch watching for Baltimore Orioles and Northern Cardinals, I noticed a variety of birds deftly catching winged insects in the trees at my feet and eye level. These birds were new to me. I took their portraits as best I could, and discovered later that I had seen birds with names like the Magnolia Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler and Palm Warbler. I was hooked on warblers after that. This year, I saw a Blackpoll Warbler on his way from South America to Canada at the Dells, as well as a Blue-headed Vireo.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds are residents at the Dells as well. Five out of my seven times, I spotted a handsome male perched on a high branch surveying his kingdom of blooming honeysuckle and other wildflowers. The first day, he flew very near me and began to fly vigorously in a tight”u” shape while making noises with his wings. Later, I read it was his way of impressing the ladies. Turns out, there must have been one hiding in the leaves and branches and I actually spotted her a couple days later and almost on cue, the male did his”u” dance in the air again.

There are also big birds that call the Dells home. On the full day that I spent there, about mid-afternoon a Great Horned Owl started hooting from the other side of the cliffs. It wasn’t long until it flew out and perched on a branch to see what the commotion was (me). I’m sorry if I woke him from an afternoon snooze, but I’m grateful he decided to let me snap a couple photos.

Birds aren’t the only attraction for photography at the Dells. The cliffs themselves are incredible, and full of unique plants like fragile prickly pear cactus. If you have a macro lens, you could spend hours photographing the close-up details. I know because I did. I also saw three different kayakers and canoers plying the waters below, and someday would like to join them to see the view from the river level.

Six evenings and a day in May at the Dells. Not a bad way to experience spring in southeast South Dakota. I wish I could have gone more.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Spring Awakening

By Christian Begeman

There is a light spring shower outside my window as I write this column. I left it open a crack so I could enjoy the wonderful smell of the rain. There are robins and grackles squabbling on the lawn and alfalfa field to the north. This morning I witnessed the return of the vibrant male barnswallow that has been using my backdoor light fixture for a nesting spot the last few years. My two favorite seasons in South Dakota are spring and fall. I like to think of them as the transition seasons. Spring signals the arrival of life and all its beauty, while fall means life is leaving with a final flourish. Both times of year call out to a wandering photographer. But now it is time to celebrate spring once again on the prairie. Here is a brief photographic journal of how the spring of 2016 has unfolded for me.

February 27

While driving the backroads of Moody County, I noticed the tell-tale ‘V’ formation of migrating snow geese. This is among the first harbingers of spring in eastern South Dakota.

March 5

So much for signs of spring, as a light snow dusted the farmlands west of Sioux Falls. Even though the high temp was in the upper 40s the following day, the snow remained for this portrait of very winter-like South Dakota sunset.

March 12

While travelling through Badlands National Park, I spotted a brilliant blue male Mountain Bluebird as well as a Western Meadowlark bursting with song on the northeast side of the park.

March 19

The temperatures were warmer than average in early March, which caused the state flower, the pasque, to bloom earlier than normal in many areas. Snow flurries on the 19th gave me an opportunity to photograph the tough little flower adorned with snow.

March 20

The official first day of spring was cloud free and relatively warm with plenty of sunshine. National Geographic‘s online photography community called Yourshot had a spring equinox assigment to find and photograph images that illustrated spring in your part of the country. In the afternoon, I found blooming snow trillium at Newton Hills State Park south of Canton, and in the evening I photographed beautiful patches of pasqueflowers along the hillsides next to Hanson Lake in Hanson County.

March 26

Winter had one final gasp as heavy snow fell in much of southeastern South Dakota. I spent a couple hours at the Sioux Falls Outdoor Campus looking for birds dealing with the weather. As I was about to leave I spotted a lone Cedar Waxwing foraging for any remaining berries from last autumn.

April 3

A very weak rain cloud hovered on the western skyline at sunset. The result was a brilliant sky as the setting sun painted the underside of the cloud in rural Lincoln County.

April 9

On my way to visit the near ghost town of Lily in Day County, I stopped at Horseshoe Lake to see various waterfowl bobbing on the waves. I was able to capture an interesting take-off of a pair of Lesser scaup ducks.

April 17

If anyone saw me in Union Grove State Park, they may have wondered why I was kneeling or lying along the roadside. I guess finding and photographing new spring blooms will do that to a photographer. The plum thickets were just starting to pop and I found Dutchman’s Breeches, wild white violets and a few beautiful White Trout Lilies that I’d never seen before. Although abundant in the states to the east, they are quite rare in South Dakota. They also go by such names as White Fawn Lily, White Dogtooth Violet and White Adder’s Tongue.

April 20

A second day of heavy rain in the Sioux Falls area found me trying to figure out a unique way to capture an image of the much needed April showers. Oddly enough, the answer was looking right at me through the windshield of my truck. I set up my tripod in the back seat, put the macro lens on and photographed raindrops on the glass with the lights of downtown Sioux Falls as a background.

April 22, early morning

The moon was full overnight, so I headed out to an abandoned farmhouse north of Silver Lake on the Hutchinson/Turner County line to capture the”Pink Moon” before it set. The Farmer’s Almanac says it is called the Pink Moon because of the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that shad swam upstream to spawn.

April 22, early evening

After work I decided to look for signs of the annual warbler migration at Newton Hills State Park. There wasn’t much activity and I thought I was too early. Then right as I was about to leave, I noticed a pair of orange-crowned warblers deftly working a wild plum thicket in search of ants. The smell of the blossoms and beauty of the birds tell me that spring is finally here to stay.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Artist at Home

By Rick Hauffe

Terry Redlin, one of America’s great wildlife artists, died in Watertown on April 24 at the age of 78.

Editor’s Note: Terry Redlin, the Watertown artist famous for nostalgic landscapes and patriotic prairie scenes, died on April 24 at the age of 78. South Dakota Magazine published this profile of Redlin in the spring of 1994, shortly after he announced plans to locate the Redlin Art Center in his hometown. He considered the museum, which houses over 150 of Redlin’s original oil paintings, to be a”thank you” gift to the community that helped him become one of the country’s most treasured artists.

Terry Redlin, one of South Dakota’s best-known native sons and one of the nation’s most famous wildlife artists, fulfilled one lifelong dream last year by buying a home along Watertown’s Lake Kampeska. It is an alternate residence to his home along Lake Minnetonka near Minneapolis-St. Paul, which gives both states bragging rights to a Redlin residency.

But Redlin’s second dream really has folks in Watertown buzzing, from local business development types to arts advocates. Redlin chose Watertown as the site to build the Redlin Art Center, a permanent home to display his original paintings.

Redlin is reticent about the Redlin Art Center. He’d prefer to announce his detailed plans later when he and local committee members of the Redlin Art Center Board are finished exploring ideas.

On reasons why he chose Watertown over locations closer to a bigger market in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Redlin is declarative. They go back to when his life focused on the hunting and fishing paradise of northeast South Dakota.

Redlin dreamed of becoming a forest ranger. Or anything else which would keep him where he could easily make time to hunt or fish. Aside from some undeveloped sketching abilities, Redlin had no ambition to become an artist.

“Back then, I didn’t have any money, and I didn’t care. As long as I had a little money for bait minnows and shells, everything was all right,” Redlin said.”I carved fishing plugs in the wintertime.”

The carefree course of Redlin’s life took an abrupt turn in his mid-teens when his motorcycle was struck by another vehicle. Redlin lost a leg in the accident. The man who hit him had no money or means to cover Redlin’s injury.

“If it hadn’t happened, I would have gone into the service. I had dreams to go away and be a forest ranger. It brought me to a reality that I had to sit down to make a living,” Redlin said. “My hobbies were to build models or draw, so I went with becoming an artist.”

Comforts of Home.

Florence Bruhn, Redlin’s high school art teacher, remembers those days. They weren’t easy. She helped him develop his sketching into a potential career option.

“Back then, Terry was so busy hunting and fishing he could hardly make time for school. But when he hurt his leg, he found another way to excel,” Bruhn, 83, said.”A lot of people think it’s a talent, but it’s not. It’s also a lot of work, and he put a lot of hard work into it.”

The state of South Dakota also came to Redlin’s rescue. It was a help Redlin never forgot.

The state provided a tuition grant to Redlin to help him rehabilitate from his injury. The grant put Redlin in the School of Associated Arts in St. Paul, where he further refined his skills to become a professional graphic artist.

It turned into an investment Redlin has sought to repay through his portrayal of South Dakota prairie landscapes in his paintings, and through his selection of Watertown as the site for his arts center.

Redlin chose his hometown of Watertown for his art center, a grand building near the junction of Highway 212 and Interstate 29. Photo by Chad Coppess/S.D. Tourism.

“The state gave me a grub stake. That’s the way I look at it,” Redlin said.”It was why, when we looked for a place to locate the arts center, we settled on South Dakota. I’m sure the grant was money which the state felt it’d be a million-to-one odds they’d ever see that investment come back. They were sending somebody to art school in Minnesota. What’s the chance they would ever come back?”

Redlin’s hero in art had been Norman Rockwell. He also wanted to become an illustrator. He landed his first job with Brown & Bigelow, where Rockwell and other famous illustrators were contributors. However, the demand for illustrators evaporated, and Redlin spent 25 years in commercial art in layout, graphic designing and illustrating.

It wasn’t work which landed him covers of Post magazine, like Rockwell’s most famous work, but it taught him about balance, light and other techniques.

It also bought time to research, photograph scenery and plan for going into business for himself as a wildlife artist. That research, and the thousands of photographs of scenery in South Dakota and Minnesota still show up today in his works.

“When I do field work, it’s with a camera,” Redlin said.”I did an awful lot of it back in the beginning. I took two years before I picked up a brush.”

Redlin’s first big break as an emerging artist came in 1977 when his painting, Winter Snows, made the cover of The Farmer magazine. In 1979, he made the jump into painting wildlife fulltime after demand for his works grew.

Redlin’s career awards are impressive. He won the highly competitive Minnesota Duck Stamp contest in 1981 and 1984. In 1982, he placed second in the federal duck stamp competition and won the Minnesota Trout Stamp contest. In 1983, he won the national Artist of the Year award for Ducks Unlimited, the highest honor for a wildlife artist.

The Redlin Art Center houses over 150 of Redlin’s original oil paintings. Photo by Chad Coppess/S.D. Tourism.

In 1991, U.S. Art Magazine took a national survey of galleries and found six of the year’s top 20 prints were Redlin’s. U.S. Art named Redlin”America’s Most Popular Artist” in 1993.

His paintings and prints gained fame quickly, because they represented more than another slough scene as a backdrop for a picture of ducks, geese or pheasants. Redlin occasionally puts humorous situations in his paintings. An oddity in several of his paintings is the Langenfeld Ice Cream sign, which recalls a Watertown company that has long since disappeared. He also slips in a grain elevator from the Watertown region and other local landmarks to give the paintings what he calls a”romantic realism.”

Dennis Tilly, who runs the framing and print section of the Knit Nook in Watertown, says that Redlin touch is what separates his works from others for his customers.

“It’s more than putting kids or wildlife in a painting. It’s everything. It’s the small touches in the scenery. The nostalgia and peacefulness and warmth make them so appealing,” Tilly said. ‘”When you put the kids and dogs into the beauty of the countryside, the lakes and rivers and streams, you get this come-on-home attitude. I think his works really project a good image of South Dakota and the Midwest in general.”

Tilly said more than half of the prints he sells in his shop on Kemp Avenue are of Redlin paintings.

That’s against some pretty tough competition, because Watertown claims as its own several other wildlife artists. Leading that list is John Wilson, who hit a home run in wildlife art several years ago by winning the federal duck stamp contest. Wilson has been a repeat winner of duck and pheasant stamp contests in South Dakota.

Other painters with Watertown ties who’ve done well in wildlife art are John Moisan, Bob Hinton, John Green and Larry Negaard.

“I think wildlife art is really big in Watertown because of all the artists who’ve come from here,” Tilly said.”Everyone in town has something in their homes.”

America.

That brings up another point.

Redlin and other wildlife artists have long been concerned that the wildlife art market has hit its saturation point. It’s a concern his teacher Florence Bruhn said she shared with Redlin several years ago.

“He was doing really well with all the ducks and pheasants and that kind of thing. But you can have so many ducks and pheasants on the walls and then you run out of room,” Bruhn said. “I told Terry you have to find something else.”

Once he firmly established his niche in the wildlife market, Redlin began in the mid-1980s to diversify beyond wildlife themes. The themes have changed, but his landscapes haven’t strayed too far from his boyhood haunts around Watertown.

One example is titled Amber Waves of Grain. It depicts a pioneer farmer teaching his wife how to use a one-bottom plow. The rolling prairie background was picked off a photograph Redlin took of landscape 4 miles east of Watertown along U.S. Highway 212.

Amber Waves of Grain is one-eighth of perhaps Redlin’s most ambitious accomplishment to date, the”America the Beautiful” series of eight paintings. The series is Redlin’s answer to his hero Norman Rockwell’s notable patriotic series of Post covers on the”Four Freedoms.” Each line in the first stanza of the song, “America the Beautiful,” is the title of one of the eight paintings.

The art center campus includes a gazebo, pond and walking paths. A summer concert is held on the green every year. Photo by Chad Coppess/S.D. Tourism.

“It was a patriotic thing,” Redlin said.”I’ve always wanted to do something like the ëFour Freedoms,’ and I thought of doing a series like this, but I shelved it because it was too big a project.”

Family members urged Redlin to produce the series, which he did over a span of several years.

“Six years ago, I got started and I got them done in between a lot of other projects,” Redlin said.”I had to wait until all eight were done before I could start releasing them, so now we’ve been releasing one every four months.”

The series is a hit in art galleries around the nation. Now Redlin’s next big project is the Redlin Art Center in Watertown.

Redlin enjoys the financial security of his success, but he has not been affected by fame. It’s fun to bump into his works unexpectedly.

The morning of our interview, a commercial during Good Morning America for a Wisconsin company flashed one of his works on the TV screen in his Lake Minnetonka home. The biggest surprise came during a recent episode of Matlock. Matlock, played by Andy Griffith, stood on one side of a fireplace, talking to a couple other characters while one of Redlin’s prints, Golden Retreat, hung center screen over the fireplace.

“I have no idea what the conversation was. I was too busy calling for Helene to come in here and look at that,” Redlin said.

Helene is Redlin’s wife. They met in school in Watertown. They have one son, Charles, who is Redlin’s assistant and constant companion in his work. The Redlins have two daughters, Kelly and Kim, and two grandchildren.

Beyond the arts center, Redlin says he hasn’t set any ambitious goals, other than to keep painting and developing new ideas. He said he can’t choose a particularly favorite painting from among his works.

“There are bits and pieces of every picture that I like. I can’t say there is an ultimate favorite. I guess my favorite painting is the one I haven’t painted yet,” Redlin said.”The most fun of it all is the anticipation, coming up with an idea and thinking out the layout ó making it all work together and balance. That’s what keeps it exciting.”

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Mount Moriah Winter

Mount Moriah Cemetery, named for the land in Genesis 22, looms directly over Deadwood. Scores of the poor and nameless lie unremembered in pauper’s graves, but most tourists come to read the stones of colorful Deadwood characters like Seth Bullock, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. In winter visitors are few and deer feel free to roam and rest there. Photos by John Mitchell.