La Brea Tar Pits

When I was a child I was fascinated by prehistoric animals and read all the children's books our library had on geology and fossils. One of places often mentioned was the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, and pictures showed ferocious sabre-toothed tiger and huge mammoths and mastodons. These were the most memorable of the ice-age animals forever preserved in the tar and eventually dug out.

Today the tar pits are in downtown Los Angeles, surrounded by buildings and traffic. Parking can be expensive but you can enter the park for free and admission to the Page Museum is reasonable.
This photo shows a pond which was created when asphalt was removed from the tar pits to be sold for street paving. The large models of mammoths were added later with dramatic intent. Bubbles of methane gas rise up in the pond, adding a spooky effect. This is a case where an artist could make a more convincing image than my photograph by changing the background from buildings to trees.