July 2010 River Ranch Writing

While I was in France recently, in a village a few kilometers outside of and looking down a beautiful valley toward Lyon, I had the opportunity to talk about buffalo and the Great Plains to a classroom of about 30 nine year old children. They listened attentively and then began asking questions about the American West, what I did on the ranch, and about the buffalo. Fortunately I had a few pictures on a disk, which I was able to show on a large computer screen with the kids gathered around in a semi-circle, and seated on the floor. It was probably the highlight of my trip this time–watching the kids’ eyes light up as their hands shot up to be recognized for their questions:
“Is the buffalo a symbol in the U.S.”
“Yes! for many things both bad and good. It reminds us of the fact that we almost exterminated it, and it reminds us of its strength and stamina, and its value to the life of the native people of the land. It also has become a symbol for the restoration of the Great Plains,”
“How do you catch them?”
“We don’t catch them. They are a wild animal, but we try to keep our herd calm.”

It was questions like these that I tried to answer. At times, I think some of this class was even tougher than some of the classes I conducted at the university.

In last month’s River Ranch Diary I stated that “There are no buffalo in France.” and a french reader of this website, Philipe Le Bouteiller, quickly and graciously corrected me, telling me:
“Just to say, you’re wrong, there are some buffalo in France, in Allier two young farmers raise a herd of about 30 American buffalo. They organized a couple weeks ago a great Buffalo festival, where we could discover these beautiful animals, eat some meat and dance with some talents country music artists. I met also there a farmer who raise about 15 buffalo in Cantal. So Gervase, Buffalo are really present in France!! I wish you a nice trip in France. Phil”
Also a lady in Bretagne/Brittany mentioned something similar in an e-mail. I thank them for this information.

This information gives me a second focus for my next visit to France. I would like to meet with M. Le Bouteiller and try to arrange meeting with as many of the French growers of American Bison as possible. I would love to see their methods and operations and to discuss with them the pros and cons of the buffalo in France, which could be a very interesting project.

Typically the pastures in France are relatively small but ordinarily very plush as well. I would like to watch their herd management techniques, to look at the buffalos diet, to see how they acquire new bloodlines to prevent serious in-breeding, etc. I would also like to hear their thoughts on the differences and similarities between the bison and their cattle, as well as the rationale behind their acquisition of these animals.