The wild ponies of Grayson Highlands graze on a grassy bald as a storm approaches, at Grayson Highlands State Park, April 2017
A wild pony stands in front of the final colors of twilight, at Grayson Highlands State Park, 1/16/17
A wild black bear and his reflection. Captured at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Black bears are one of my favorite native NC species, and these coastal bears are generally larger and plumper than those in our mountains. The bear population at the NC coast is also much larger than at the mountains. I saw 7 bears on this morning, and they all seemed rather preoccupied looking through the soy bean fields.