The Wild Idea Buffalo herd…

The Wild Idea Buffalo herd, having wintered within the seemingly interminable fence we built last year around the Corral Draw and Indian Creek units of the U.S. Forest Service managed grasslands, is now back on the private summering lands of the ranch. Admittedly there was not just a little trepidation among us regarding the retrieval of the herd from the huge, rugged, buffalo-perfect habitat. Adding to the anxiety about possible difficulties with our task was the imminent approach of calving, which could make the bringing of the herd out and in immeasurably difficult.

As it turned out, one day the majority of the herd came to the river for a drink. We took that opportunity to open a gate and invite them in. To our unbridled delight they came. The following day we saw another group in the bluffs on the other side of the river. We hoped that they, too, would come in and join the majority of the herd-saving us a lot of work. They did not come. Several days later Dan located them about as far away from the ranch as they could get and still be inside the fence; so the next morning we launched a round-up expedition, and by late afternoon, we had convinced them (thirty-two plus a new calf) to join the rest of the herd. Five very tired people celebrated a small success that evening.

Now the calves are starting wholesale to dot the landscape with the herd. They are an amazingly, rugged animal. Their mothers are fiercely protective, afraid of nothing, dangerous to any perceived threat. We watch the cows closely-from afar. Everyone likes the calves. They are a reddish gold color, playful and nimble. Sometimes in their playful zeal, they become separated from their mothers. They grunt and their mothers grunt back. They follow each other’s, to-them-distinctive, voices toward a reuniting. The calf nudges his/her mom; she welcomes him/her back into her private space. Their separation anxiety is ended. Having returned to the sanctuary of her private space is ample cause for a small celebration. I can appreciate that;