Wonderful Moms! | dakotareflections.com

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Wonderful Moms!

Stephen McDonough worked as a pediatrician in North Dakota for 45 years from 1980 to 2025.

"I often said that I spent my career being told what to do by moms and nurses. I discovered early on that if I wanted to get things done, it was best to work with women."

“I was especially impressed with moms who had children with special health care needs. Together, we worked to achieve the best health possible for their children."

Stephen McDonough also had a love for animals while growing up with a series of wonderful dogs: Snoopy and Sparky followed by Ziggy, Lacy, Belle, Nala, Kiara and Indy.

As a photographer, Stephen McDonough loves to take images of animals- especially animal familes where he can document the love, hard work and dedication of the parents to their offspring.

Please enjoy these images of remarkable animal moms and their babies!

Wonderful Moms

Bears- Polar Bears and Brown Bears
Canids- Gray Woves, Coyotes and Red Foxes
Felines- Tigers, Lions and Chetaahs
Primates-
Ungulates
Rodents
Birds

Bears

Love, Family and Home

Mom and Babe in Front of Snow Den!

Polar Bears

Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada

Photo of the Day- March 2, 2022

Photo of the Month- March 2022

Photo of the Year- 2022

Polar Bears

Baffin Bay, Nunavut, Canada

April 7, 2022

Polar bear moms fast from September or October through March or April, up to 8 months and among the longest fasting period for any mammal. Cubs stay with their moms for 2 to 3 years, learning how to hunt and take care of themselves.

Polar Bears

Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada

February 27, 2022

Polar bear milk is about 31% fat when cubs are born, providing enough calories to help cubs grow rapidly. The mother’s milk changes fat content and composition as cubs get older and nurse less, becoming closer to 18% fat by the time the cubs are a year old.

https://polarbearsinternational.org/news-media/articles/polar-bear-mom-cub-facts/

Brown Bear #402 Mom Nursing 4 Cubs

Katmai National Park, Alaska

July 26, 2015

Bear milk can be energetically rich, with the highest fat content of black and brown bears measured around 20-25 percent. Human milk is comparable to cows’ milk, generally ranging between three and five percent fat.

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=296

Milkshake (Bear 236) with her Four Cubs

Katmai National Park, Alaska

July 22, 2010

Year First Identified: Adult in 1997
Year Last Identified: 2011
Number of Known Litters: 5

When last seen in 2011, #236 was one of the older adult females to frequent the Brooks River. She fished the lower river and the lip of the falls. She was first identified in 1997 caring for two spring cubs. She had at least four more litters. Records from the past 20 years indicated that she was one of the most fertile and successful female bears to use the Brooks River. DNA analysis has confirmed that she is the mother of #604 and #608. In 2003, #236 was seen with four spring cubs, which is unusual for any sow. Remarkably, she returned in 2010 with four spring cubs, her fifth known litter.

https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/photosmultimedia/upload/BearsNoLongerSeen2022-Final-508-Copy.pdf

Love!

Brown Bear #402 Mom and Cubs

Katmai National Park

Photo of the Day- July 25, 2015

Photo of the Month- July 2015

That's My Mom!

This grizzly bear cub looked back as me as to say "no worries, I am with my mom." The photograph was taken on September 2, 2018 in Denali National Park, Alaska.

Canids

Gray Wolves

Denali National Park, Alaska

September 2, 2018

Pups are born in early spring and are cared for by the entire pack. They depend on their mother's milk for the first month, and then they are gradually weaned and fed regurgitated meat by other pack members. By 7 to 8 months of age, when almost fully grown, the pups begin traveling with the adults.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/life-of-a-wolf.htm

Red Foxes

Burleigh County, North Dakota

May 15, 2017

Mom will have a litter of on average 5 kits that are between 50-150 grams in weight and blind for the first 9-14 days of their life. After 4-5 weeks in the den the pups can be seen outside the burrow and in the next 4-6 weeks they will be weaned. Typically, in foxes the kits and mother will stay together until they reach sexual maturity at 10 months of age.

https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/red-fox

Coyotes

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

June 19, 2026

Pups begin emerging from the den by 3 weeks of age, and within 2 months will follow adults to hunt or feed on carrion. Pups normally are weaned by 6 weeks of age. Adults and pups usually remain together until fall or early winter, when pups become independent. Occasionally, pups are found in groups until breeding begins. Pups may disperse 50 miles or more from their natal home ranges.

https://icwdm.org/species/carnivores/coyotes/coyote-biology/

Black-backed Jackals

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

October 27, 2022

By the age of 3 weeks, pups have all their “milk teeth”, and the milk diet is gradually replaced with food regurgitated by adults. Although pups start emerging from the den at the age of 3 weeks, they still spend most of their time in the den up to the age of 7 weeks. At the age of 3-4 months, permanent teeth start replacing the milk teeth. By this age, the pups are weaned, no longer use a den, and begin to accompany the adults in search of food. At the age of 6-12 months, all milk teeth have been replaced by permanent teeth. By this age, they are more mobile and capable of hunting on their own. Young Black-backed jackals usually stay close to their den up to the age of six months. After this age, they may stay with the parents as helpers or disperse to establish their own territories.

https://www.ufs.ac.za/docs/librariesprovider22/pmic-documents/01_02-reproduction-of-jackal.pdf?sfvrsn=1f2b8421_7

Felines

Bengal tigers

Bandhavgarh National Park, India

March 18, 2019

Tiger cubs are born blind and are completely dependent on their mother. Newborn tiger cubs weigh between 785 and 1,610 grams (1.75 to 3.5 lb). The tiger cubs' eyes will open sometime between six to twelve days. However, they do not have their full vision for a couple of weeks. Tigresses are overly cautious and secretive when caring for young cubs. She will immediately move them if the area becomes disturbed or threatened. The tigress is solely responsible for the protection and care of her young for the first few months of the cubs' lives. She leaves her young for only short periods of time to drink and hunt. Tigresses will spend nearly 70% of their time nursing their cubs for the first few days following birth. The amount of time spent nursing reduces to about 30% of their day by the time the cubs are a month old. Nursing tigresses must increase their nutritional intake by an estimated 50% to keep up their milk supply. For example a nursing female in Chitwan consumed a large prey item every five to six days as opposed to eating one large prey item every eight days when she was on her own. The tigress stimulates the cub's circulation and bowel movements by spending large periods of time licking them. The tigress may also eat the cubs' feces in order to protect them from potential predators detecting their scents. Tiger cubs begin consuming solid food when they are six to eight weeks old.

https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/tiger/care-of-young/

Lions

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

October 28, 2022

When a lioness is close to giving birth, she will separate from the pride and find a safe and secluded denning site, often in thick vegetation or even inside a cave. Here, she will give birth to a litter of between 1 and 6 cubs, who she will keep hidden until she re-joins the pride when they are around two months old.

When multiple lionesses in a pride have cubs, they will share care of their cubs by forming a “crèche”. Lion cubs are completely dependent on milk after birth, and cubs in a crèche will suckle from any lioness that is lactating. Cubs can start supplementing their diet with meat when they are 4-6 weeks old, and will gradually eat more and more meat until they are fully weaned off milk at around a year. Lion cubs will practice stalking and hunting techniques through play when they are young, and are able to begin joining hunts when they are a year old – although they still rely on adults for food until they are at least 2 years old.

https://www.lionlandscapes.org/lion-cubs

Lions

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

October 21, 2022

Cheetahs

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

October 25, 2022

Litter size averages 3 to 5 but may vary from 1 to 8 cubs. At birth, cubs weigh 150 to 400 g (0.33-0.88 lbs.). After 4 to 11 days they open their eyes. The nursing period ranges from 3 to 6 months. Cubs are born with a thick grayish mane that appears to provide additional camouflage from predators. This newborn hair is lost about 3 months later. Cubs begin to follow their mother after 6 weeks. At that time the mother will seek a new area to rest and hide almost daily. The mother teaches her young to hunt until they separate from each other, which usually is after a period of 13 to 20 months.

https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/cheetah/care-of-young/

Primates

Mountain Gorilla and Infant

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda

November 1, 2022

Black-faced Vervets

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

October 18, 2022

Black and White Colobuses

Arusha National Park, Tanzania

October 17, 2022

Baboons

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

November 13, 2007

Ungulates

Andatu and Ratu

Sumatran Rhinos

Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia

July 26, 2012

Indian one-horned rhinoceros

Kaziranga National Park, India

March 21 2019

African Elephants

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

October 19, 2022

Asian elephants

Kaziranga National Park, India

March 23, 2019

Giraffes

Arusha National Park, Tanzania

October 31, 2007

Giraffes

Arusha National Park, Tanzania

October 31, 2007

Second Day of Life!

Baby Boy "Monet" and Mom "Indian Paint Brush"!

Feral Horses

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

September 25, 2023

On the Move!

Plains Zebra Migration

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

October 26, 2022

Hippopotami

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

October 22, 2022

Pronghorns

Dakota Prairie National Grasslands, North Dakota

June 3, 2017

On the Move!

Topi and Plains Zebra Migration

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

October 26, 2022

White-tailed Deer

Burleigh County, North Dakota

August 2, 2020

Together in Love!

Mom and Babe!

Mule Deer and Fawn

McKenzie County, North Dakota

Photo of the Day- August 4, 2024

Mule Deer

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

September 29 2017

Mule Deer

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

September 20, 2016

Mom and Babe!

Fawn will stay with Mom for 1 year and be nursed 3 months!

Mule Deer

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

Photo of the Day- June 14, 2026

American Bison

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

May 22, 2021

A bison calf with be nursed by its mom for 6 to 8 months and will stay with mom until 7 to 12 months of age. The bison mom (cow moose) will vigorously defend her calf.

https://home.nps.gov/common/uploads/teachers/lessonplans/Bison%20Life%20Cycle_508.pdf

Moose

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

May 31, 2019

A moose calf with be nursed by its mom for 6 months and will stay with mom until 12 months of age. The moose mom (cow moose) will vigorously defend her calf.

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/education/wns/moose.pdf