At first glance, it’s a simple scene. Six adult bison and a calf mill around a stream. But Matt Davis invites me to look closer. We are at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, where Davis is an exhibition developer. As he shows me, there’s more to the diorama’s tale than a handful of once-living, now-taxidermied bison skins.
A well-worn path leads to the stream, and a bison skull sits to the side; this herd has been dropping by for some time. And they’re contributing to the ecosystem. Perched atop that skull and scattered around the scene are birds that feast on bugs kicked up by the bison.