The Mammath Trap started as a sinkhole 26,000 years ago in what would one
day be called South Dakota. Mammoths that entered the hole to drink from
water at the bottom found they could not climb out the steep, slippery Spearfish
Shale which made up the wall of the pit. They died of starvation or drowning.
The bodies sank into the loose sand at the bottom and when the sand turned
to rock the bones were preserved to be found by man in 1974.
The image above shows a woolly mammoth desperately climbing out of the
hole, while has fellow woolly mammoth looks on, unable to help. Going left-to-right
a giant short-faced bear conptemplates entering the hole to scavage the
body of a fallen Columbian mammoth, a Columbian mammoth looks for an escape
from the hole, a Columbian mammoth sends a short-faced bear flying into
the pit. Injured and unable to climb out, the bear becomes a permanent resident.
For more information on The Mammoth Trap, click
here.