March 22, 2026

"Think about the 250th. A lot's going to happen this summer on the Mall. But come the end of the year, what's still going to still be on the Mall? The bronze bison."

From "Smithsonian brings bison back to the National Mall with gigantic statues" (WaPo)(gift link, because this is all about the photographs).

20 comments:

n.n said...

Planned Quadrupedhood (QP)... WaPout (no pun intended... maybe, baby).

Narr said...

Let Gurbanguly have his Big Gold Dog. We got Giant Bronze Bison.

Dave Begley said...

Great art.

Joe Bar said...

I did not know we had a "National Mammal." Awesome!

Can we bring back the Teddy Roosevelt statue to NYC now? And that Abe Lincoln statue they took down?

Rocco said...

Honoring bison is ungulate supremacy.

Leora said...

I would have enjoyed a picture of what they looked like when the sun was up.

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

"The species has recovered from the brink of extinction and now exists in all 50 states with a population of approximately 500,000 animals. It is currently listed as “near threatened”"

That's a lot of bison.

RCOCEAN II said...

I like Bison. And its good we have a statue. Ultimately, however, they're just wild cows. Like someone said, 500,000 is enough.

RCOCEAN II said...

Teddy Roosevelt is still in the closet. Maybe they'll let him for Gay pride month.

Zavier Onasses said...

B-B-B-But - the bison-tenial was fifty years ago.

Ralph L said...

For those who don't want to give WaPOO their email:
MSN version with photos
I can't tell if they're on the Mall side or the Constitution Ave, or which would be better. More people pass on the street side, but gawking would not be good.

Ralph L said...

Excellent, Onasses

Ralph L said...

Duh, there's the Wash Monument, so Mall side.

Ralph L said...

The director of the museum since 2013, Kirk Johnson, starred in a few PBS Nova geology/natural history docs that I enjoyed. Wiki says he received a bachelor's degree in geology and fine arts from Amherst.

RCO, TR & friends were at the NY Natural History museum.

mikee said...

Bison are great, but I, for one, would welcome UNCLE BEAZLEY back with even more enthusiasm.

Ralph L said...

Had to look him up, mikee, as I didn't know his name. Sinclair's molded while you wait dinosaurs are about all I remember of the '64-5 NY World's Fair (I was 4). "It's a small world" doesn't count, because I saw it again a few years later at Disneyland.

Josephbleau said...

I saw the Bronze Bison fight Michael Nunn at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in 1990.

Narr said...

I don't know about UNCLE BEAZLEY but I do recall Uncle Buckle the Safety Buffalo.

RigelDog said...

There was a life-sized model (maybe a real, stuffed one?) of a bison at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh—may still be there.
These animals are SO big! Standing next to even an inanimate bison is a bit scary.

RigelDog said...

Why was almost every photograph taken of the statues in low light and from menacing angles?

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