By happenstance, Jill and I got to spend about half of St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago. I was excited because, though my Irishness is mostly in name only, there was a time in college when I spent a few memorable St Patrick Days in the Windy City, with a friend by the name of Michael Maloney. Mike is a for-real, Chicago Irishman and on those trips I was exposed to the thoughtful, serious side of St. Patrick’s Day. Most memorable and foreign to me was the acappella singing of revolutionary songs, followed often by tears or just plain silence. On this trip, we were invited by the Chicago Zoological Society on the occasion of the opening of the Brookfield Zoo’s latest exhibit, The Great Bear Wilderness, and we took most of the daylight hours of the next day to walk the canyons of downtown Chicago and watch the revelers warming up.
We had to catch a flight back to South Dakota that afternoon and after our past, busy day at the Brookfield Zoo, we looked forward to walking anonymously along the lakeshore, eating a wonderful lunch at one of Rick Bayless’s restaurants, and mulling over what we had learned at the Brookfield Zoo. The shenanigans of Chicago’s pub people was a bonus though, even at mid-morning, it was impossible not to compare downtown Chicago with the wildness we’d seen the day before a the zoo. Already by nine o’clock things were happening that would have made my old friend, Michael Maloney, shake his head in disapproval.
Like a lot of people, I have never felt completely comfortable with the idea of zoos. My introduction to zoos was in the nineteen-fifties and sixties, when one of our family’s yearly adventures was to visit the Toledo Zoo. As a small child and ever after I am at once attracted to the animals and repulsed by their captivity. So, three year ago, when Jill and I were contacted by the Brookfield Zoo’s Senior VP for Conservation and Education, we were only mildly interested. To a couple of northern Great Plains people like us, his name was unfamiliar and unpronounceable. Now what sort of name is, Alejandro Grajal? What possible connection could he have to large-scale buffalo restoration and production?
I was still locked into the mind-set formed fifty years before that, zoos were places to display animals for the entertainment of the masses, and the people who ran them were mostly protectionists who were quite capable of seeing species in isolation and missing the enormity of the forces that surrounded that specie. But after talking with Alejandro on the telephone, I began to get the feeling that my adolescent, half-a-century-old impression might be less than accurate. It turned out that Alejandro was a Ph.D with a keen interest in what I consider to be creative conservation. He had been researching buffalo restoration and, through a mutual friend at the World Wildlife Fund, had gotten our contact information. He represented his institution on at least one committee to restore buffalo to the Great Plains. He had visited a good friend, neighbor, and board member of Sustainable Harvest Alliance, Ed Iron Cloud and had again been directed to us. He was looking for high quality buffalo meat, produced with a higher purpose than mere profit and ended up in contact with Wild Idea Buffalo Company
At the outset a collaboration between Wild Idea Buffalo Company and the Brookfield Zoo seemed too complicated to be likely. I thought it would take a lot of top quality education to convince zoo-goes to order and consume a buffalo burger while watching the small herd of the glorious creatures that were one of the cornerstones of the new Great Bear Wilderness Exhibit. Though the connection between profit from buffalo meat sales and restoration of large portions of the Great Plains was perfectly clear to me, I thought there might be some resistance from folks struggling to understand both the role of habitat, and differentiate between an individual of a species and the specie itself.
I was scheduled to speak in the early evening but we had a full day at the zoo. They had been serving WIB meat on a trial basis for months before the opening of the Great Bear Wilderness Exhibit. Jill planned to meet with the head Chef of Brookfield after we got an advanced sneak-peek at the exhibit and the Prairie Grill, where more buffalo meals were planned to be served. This all sounded positive for WIB and for buffalo and prairie conservation and restoration, but I had my doubts. Since 1956 I had associated zoo food with tasteless poison: cheap hot dogs, cotton candy, and sugary sodas. As we met the director of education, the head chef of Brookfield’s many restaurants, and Vice President, Dr. Alejandro Grajal, I felt like a spy in danger of being ousted. I eyed the security people and anticipated a strong hand on my shoulder. I had met Alejandro briefly on one other occasion and, though we served together on that committee that met via teleconference with the express intention of restoring buffalo as a viable North American species, I did not have a true measure of the man. Instead of the security guard’s strong hand on my shoulder, I felt Alejandro’s warm and enthusiastic handshake.
The Brookfield Zoo is a big place with lots of animals that I wanted to have a look at. We were given the VIP tour and, though I am a little embarrassed to admit it, a high point was feeding carrots to the Bactrian camels. I shied away from feeding the big bull buffalo because, at least on the Great Plains, I have always felt that there is something ignoble about making pets of buffalo. We want them to be as wild as possible but as I looked into the eyes of Brookfield’s representative of the breed I saw that his job was different from the job of our bulls, which is to push the specie on to the next generation by dominance of the other bulls and has very little to do with human beings. This old bull’s job was to educate and inspire humans and it worked even on me. To tell the truth, I had never been that close to an unrestrained big bull and his bulk moved me nearly as much as the wisdom in his eyes. This old guy seemed to know what he was about.
I was still recovering from the impression that zoo-bull had given me when we were shuttled though the construction line of the new exhibit. It would be nearly a month before regular visitors would get the chance to see this elegant new home for a few species of bears, wolves, eagles, and buffalo. Here was the gorgeous representation of the land I had lived in most of my life. Sure it was small, only a couple acres, but the design made it look much bigger and put the visitors in otherwise unattainable positions to view the animals. From the ocean blue floored grotto, painted with irregular white splotches, representing ice floes; guests will be able to see the bears lumbering around a convincing model of real landscape, and swimming in giant pools. And children will jump from one white ice floe to the next, learning something about global warming as the ice floes become further apart. The traffic flow continues under a land bridge, where if you were lucky you would hear buffalo hooves overhead. This was not the 1959 Toledo Zoo. There was something new going on here and when I walked under that land bridge it came clear to me. Displayed prominently on one of the interpretive signs was a message that I never thought I would see at a zoo. It asked people to support the restoration of the Great Plains by EATING buffalo. The annual number of visitors at the Brookfield Zoo is over two million people. Most of them would see this sign. This was not the zoo of my youth. This was a Great Plains ecological education machine. More people would be exposed to the notion of economy assisting ecology in one day at the Brookfield Zoo than would see it on our many thousand acre buffalo ranch in my lifetime.
Jill went off with the Chief Chef to discuss how to best cook the buffalo meat they intended to sell at all the restaurants. Alejandro brought me into his office to talk with another VP and a graduate student who was writing her thesis on elements of buffalo restoration. We talked for an hour and a half and in that time I was presented with the notion that Wild Idea Buffalo Company’s idea of restoration through management was very much like work that Alejandro had done in his native Venezuela. “It is like efforts to encourage shade grown coffee,” he said. “It was hard work but when we reached a tipping point no one could stop it.” He told me he was committed to linking the sale of our product to conservation efforts, to harnessing capitalism to do the work of conservation. He would be talking to other zoo administrators and encouraging them to do the same.
I thought about this idea of harnessing our consumer economy for good as Jill and I walked the St. Patrick Day streets of Chicago. The celebration had changed since I last observed it. I didn’t remember all the silly hats and the tattooed butt cracks. It saddened me a little to realize that very few of the people who tumbled out onto the streets in front of us had a clue about the tragic history of Ireland, they were out for a good time and to spend money. Something had been lost since my last Chicago St. Patrick Day. I could have let that depress me, but I was sustained and uplifted by the enlightenment we’d found at the Brookfield Zoo. I drank a single Guiness before we boarded the airplane.
Comments 15
I had the honor of meeting you and Jill at the book signing the night of your visit to Brookfield Zoo. (I was the bookkeeper/BZ Docent who wants to move to SD to work for you :)) Since your talk and meeting Jill I have fallen in love with Buffalo. I have since read your book “Buffalo for Broken Heart”. You and Jill have given me a new appreciation for the Great Plains. I know this new connection will translate into a passion to be shared with guests for the Buffalo at the new Great Bear Wilderness exhbit. Thank you so much!
Beautifully written, I felt your every nuance of crashing into “civilization” that incredible as it seems, isnt always all bad.. tho.rare indeed,… and as always, ultra well done Dan!!!
Dan, I was very interested in reading your comments about zoos. I was a docent a the Wold Famous Topeka Zoo, while Gary Clarke was the director. He worked wonders with our Zoo, and I have NEVER questioned the animals being behind “bars”, because of him. His concern was the animal first, and the visitor second. Because of him, I consider visiting Zoos a wonderful pastime. Wish you could meet him, he is
retired now, but still lives in Topeka.
Reading your post reminded me of a book by Dan Daggett, ‘Gardeners of Eden; Rediscovering Our Importance To Nature’. It’s about people who are using cattle grazing techniques to restore Great Basin habitat. The book’s underlying premise is that to restore habitat, we have to be part of it- in a meaningful, economically profitable, and engaged kind of way. It’s a far cry from the ‘leave-the-earth-alone’ mentality espoused by so many. I look forward to hearing more about your projects.
First and foremost, I must apologize.
I could not read this entire entry.
But you can rest assured that I was inspired by the portion that I read.
I will get back to reading the rest when I think I am ready.
Let me just add with a statement regarding wilderness. There is wilderness in the lands (especially if the land is forest and you are not really far away from civilization, but if still feels as such…..)))))))) and their is wilderness of the mind.
Give me wilderness of the land any day of the week becuase getting lost in wilderness of the mind often results in unforseen consequences from which there is no going back.
Frankly, I’d just love to be in an Irish Pub in the fine city of Chicago just now. I’ve been there. A bunch of times. I’ve been to Zion as well.
I’ve walked along the lake shore, and I understand Chicago first hand. That is why I am so fond of that meat-packing city.
Peace,
Ken
and now just to toot my own horn in a friendly sort of way….here is a reference to Zion Illinois. A fine city if there ever was one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion,_Illinois
I am sorry for this third post in a way but my emotions are just getting the better of me today. Sometimes I am emotional and let me tell you something that many need to know – this has nothing to do with gender.
We all have emotions, we all move and rotate around this and that, so spare me the sentiment about mother earth and her needs because there is a mother and there is a father, and they both have inherent needs.
Here is another link that was of interest to me today:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain
By the way – this link is so “telling” to me in so many circuitous ways that I could never describe it here posting at the Wild Idea site attributed to some buffaloes! Wild Idea Buffalo the name of this site is if I reckon correctly.
Did I post a link earlier? I think I did and even if I can’t type worth a diddily, I have an appreciation of American History, and this is why I am so excited that I am finally now getting ready to read the third book of my personal “Christmas Trilogy” —– here is the title:
from off the laminate table (literally):
Passionate Sage, The Character and Legacy of John Adams, as written by the fine author: Joseph J. Ellis.
Peace to all of the other “buffalo lovers” here at this site.
And I can’t resist sharing just one last little tidbit. My daughter for her birthday wanted some fertilized chicken eggs, so we got the eggs (7 of them) and we obtained a egg-turning incubator and 3 of them hatched (the last one whose name is “Hope” wouldn’t have made it if not for my daughters diligent attention to detail – she saved that birds life is what I think). Anyhow, I have now built a chicken COOP (not coup) from the old swingset in the backyard, and I’m not kidding, I think I am falling for these birds. They have so much to offer.
Long live the Cheyenne River Blog! (or call it just the words from the wise who have had some great lives and who have so much wisdom to share – ain’t it good to share?)
So I thought I ought provide a succinct update:
1. The 3 chickens are all still alive and doing fine.
2. The rooster is a great bird and his name is Oliver.
3. We have found a home for him because unfortunately he cannot stay in our neighborhood. Too risky.
4. The two hens: Hope and Seniorita (my nickname for her) are doing fine.
5. My daughter who wanted these chickens is also learning the trade as I am. I love this.
I consider myself a peasant chicken farmer from North Carolina and I am proud of this.
Peace and best regards from my family to yours.
Ken Hausle
Charlotte, NC
So in the continuing goofy saga of the birds, today I tought those three about anger. It was an easy lesson for me to teach.
There is nothing wrong about anger, it is nothing but an emotion. One that I am past, or at least I think. During the lesson I wasn’t sure, but you would probably only be able to understand this if you were a chicken farmer, as I am.
Honestly.
Plus we now are wondering whether Oliver ought be named Olive. Boy or girl? Sometimes it is hard to know, but it don’t matter to me because I love that bird either way.
So – that is the end of this chapter and now we are up to 9. I could talk about the number 9, and I already have (elsewhere), but for now, I will continue my pursuits with these three chickens whom I have fallen for…..
Over and out –
Ken
ps – the risk from the Iceland volcano has diminished considerably in my imagination, but the scale of the effect remains and will so for a long time…..good for all of us is what I think!
OK, this is great. Let me tell you that the chicken saga continues. This is what happened today.
1. After a day of being inside the chickens got restless – they had tasted the sun.
2. The chickens came out today.
3. I cut my Mom’s lawn.
4. I came home to a bunch of chickens and I not only washed them down, but I gave them a piece of my mind.
5. I let them have it.
Chester, my dog (figuratively speaking in context as I typed this), and Abby our other dog have been out with the chickens, but I’m not kidding around – thesae dogs are not yet trustworthy.
Chester likes to hide under bushes and Abby is so subtely mean that she don’t even want to see the chickens because she is afraid that she won’t be able to control herself if she does. Good thing for her, I was around to keep this sort of mess from happening, because best I can tell Abby has already killed her one bird and I don’t wan’t her to do it again.
So there you have it.
One of my plans is to catch a hawk trying to get at the chickens. Better yet I could catch me a falcon. Maybe I ought find me a leather glove just in case the bird I catch is alive.
Still, I have already set up a whole bunch of contigency plans because let me tell you – I plan ahead.
Any chicken farmer would understand this.
Peace,
“buffalo_ken”
So I find it hard to believe that there have been no further comments here – its been a few days hasn’t it? I am typing from my wife’s computer and thought I would provide an update on my personal zoo….but, I just can’t believe nobody else has been to the Chicago Zoo area (what about the aquarium?)…..anyhow, in Chicago – a true railroad city if there ever was one, they mainly packed meat. When you pack it, sometimes you get a taste of your own tools – know what I mean?
Here is my concise summary:
1. The chickens (all three of em) remain alive and they get quicker as each day goes by.
2. So are both dogs – they are both alive.
3. I got bit by a dog, but I got over it….live and learn – ain’t that a life lesson?
4. Not sure what to say just now, so I will just say this – ever heard the word “JUSTICE”?
5. ps – retribution is a fools game, but justified retribution is something else entirely – and this I know….in my heart. In my right wrist if you must know – right at the spot where I got bit – broken bone I’m pretty sure, but not positive – that bone has now healed, and so have I. It was no big deal – a clean break caused by a canine tooth.
The chickens names (3 hens —- 99%+) are: Olive, Hope, and something else – I call the “something else” bird “Seniorita” (I like to imagine that she is from Argentina), and to understand this you would have to be close by…not somewhere in the Dakatos…..
Still, the buffaloes know where to roam, and they don’t rove away. Nope. A buffalo is like a pain in the butt, it just defends! A rover usually gets its due. Justified retribution – ain’t it a “bee”?
I won’t release my wife’s name because she doesn’t even know that I am typing this, but you probably could get her IP address based on this posting – but rest assured this will be changing as will I and as will the chickens. However, somethings are obvious and even Oprah could figure out this.
Figure it out yourself is my advice.
But, I will say one last thing. A birth certificate is just that. It does not entail any ownership, and this even the chickens know. Do you? But if you want to be the president then this sort of thing ought be a “no-brainer”.
So in closing all I can say is:
Lets go Buffalo! Go Sabers —- Beat the Bruins, but as far as Wall Street is concerned, I suspect I am truly a BEAR!
Peace friends and even though I have said this before, this time I will try to keep my word: “No more posts from me on this thread….”
Adious amigos! Long live the Dakotas!
Peace from me to you.
Ken
OK, and please (O>), I know I have lied so to speak, but this is something I want to get off my chest as a self-considered chicken farmer who can’t tell the difference between a pullet and a rooster. No more 99% chance – I take that back.
Anywho, this is what I wanted to talk about in the first place. It was a meeting that happened in the Republic (?) of Texas (?). Everyone was invited. One criteria was stipulated – come “unarmed”. Problem is, is you must know, the Colt Revolver had recently been invented……
The rest is history, but this much I think is true. Some Chiefs were killed in cold blood, and what this means is that “we all became chiefs” on that day.
Jimmmy Buffet and I understand this and I HOPE you do 2!
I’m am starting up a new business. I plan on converting things from analog to digital for the sake of safe keeping. So I doubt I will be posting much here anymore…..don’t want to wear out my welcome!
Peace,
Ken
ps – sorry for any typos in advance…..
Born & raised in Chicago, I still feel a kinship with the ethnic neighborhoods I grew up in, Irish being one of them. Maybe that is why I truly understand what you felt was missing in the celebration that day. On the other subject, I have been a supporter of Brookfield Zoo from the early 70’s and have always felt that they take on each improvement for the animals with the greatest concern for the animals. I was there when Regenstein was doing his research on their wolfpack…I do believe that was the beginning of their total consiousness for the animals & their environments & care. I was part of a documentary for my journalism class in my senior year of h.s. (way back when?)in which we researched & filmed at another Chicago Zoo…Lincoln Park. I still cant bear to visit there, they have attempted to do some good, but I fear their animals are not as well off.
Thanks for the musings….always nice to know where you are coming from.
Born & raised in Chicago, I still feel a kinship with the ethnic neighborhoods I grew up in, Irish being one of them. Maybe that is why I truly understand what you felt was missing in the celebration that day. On the other subject, I have been a supporter of Brookfield Zoo from the early 70’s and have always felt that they take on each improvement for the animals with the greatest concern for the animals. I was there when Regenstein was doing his research on their wolfpack…I do believe that was the beginning of their total consiousness for the animals & their environments & care. I was part of a documentary for my journalism class in my senior year of h.s. (way back when?)in which we researched & filmed at another Chicago Zoo…Lincoln Park. I still cant bear to visit there, they have attempted to do some good, but I fear their animals are not as well off.
Thanks for the musings….always nice to know where you are coming from.
Born & raised in Chicago, I still feel a kinship with the ethnic neighborhoods I grew up in, Irish being one of them. Maybe that is why I truly understand what you felt was missing in the celebration that day. On the other subject, I have been a supporter of Brookfield Zoo from the early 70’s and have always felt that they take on each improvement for the animals with the greatest concern for the animals. I was there when Regenstein was doing his research on their wolfpack…I do believe that was the beginning of their total consiousness for the animals & their environments & care. I was part of a documentary for my journalism class in my senior year of h.s. (way back when?)in which we researched & filmed at another Chicago Zoo…Lincoln Park. I still cant bear to visit there, they have attempted to do some good, but I fear their animals are not as well off.
Thanks for the musings….always nice to know where you are coming from.