Buffalo Dan's Bison

The two bull calves a few weeks ago.  The easiest way you can see evidence of growth is by looking at their horns.  See a photograph of them from January below.  Recently, while examining our bison herd through binoculars, I noticed that our two bull calves appeared to have grown since we brought them here from Texas this past January.  Being around the bison frequently makes it difficult to be certain, so I made a comparison between photographs of them I took in January and photographs I took this month.  Sure enough, there has been some growth.   The two bull calves in January.  In this photograph their horns are shorter than their ears.  Also, I was able to finally get that warning sign posted on our fence.  Hopefully this will help to deter people from attempting to approach the bison.

Several months ago, while dismantling the "pivot group" of my New Holland 451 mower, I noticed that the bearings in this assembly were in pretty bad shape. The old bearings after being removed and cleaned.  The dark portions on the surface of some of the rollers are not from grease.  Rather they are pitted areas darkened from corrosion. A similar level of corrosion on a bearing cup or raceway. To prolong the life of the mower and further justify my current restoration efforts, I determined that it would be necessary for me to replace these bearings.  Removing the old bearings was quite a learning process, but I eventually was able to accomplish this with careful preparation.  Prior to removal I would first chill the entire assembly in a freezer (after it was degreased and cleaned) and then remove the assembly from the freezer and apply heat to the metal on the outer portion of the bearing to be removed.  In this manner I was able to slightly reduce the outer diam

The newly planted plot surrounded by a temporary electrified rope fence. Last week I finished planting about an acre of ground with a native warm-season grass commonly known as eastern gamagrass ( Tripsacum dactyloides ).  This grass has a history of enthusiastic use by farmers in the southern United States for hay and grazing.  One account, written by someone in South Carolina and printed in an 1833 edition of the Farmers Register , boasts: The green grass is not very succulent, and therefore does not lose much in drying; and when cured, the fodder or hay is very highly flavored, and eaten very readily, in both states, by both horses and cows.  Its roots being very large, and sinking very deep in the ground, enables it to resist the drought better than almost any plant I ever saw.  I tend to take passages like the above with a grain of salt, but I thought I'd give it a try and ordered enough to plant one acre.  The seeds that arrived were massive, each being nearly the size

The warning sign Jess and I had printed over a year ago.  I based the design on one posted at the Tallgrass National Preserve in Kansas.  The picture is hard to misinterpret.  When we first received the printed signs in the mail we decided to hold off on posting them.  At that time it felt somewhat excessive, but I now intend to post them. As I've mentioned before in my previous blog post, our recently acquired bison bull has become more aggressive towards me over the last few weeks.  The spring mating season (not as common as the late summer mating season) is in full swing here and this afternoon he gave me his most threatening display of aggression to date. The bull (the one with the largest horns on the left) attempting the divert the herd away from me.  I was walking around outside the pasture fence with my camera, when the herd (at a distance of about 150 yards) observed me and began to walk in my direction.  The bull immediately trotted in front of the others in an

Our recently acquired bull has now decided that I no longer have free rein to do as I please in the pasture.  This was first communicated to me two weeks ago when he charged me for walking too close to the herd.  My second notice came this morning as I was clearing some trees in the pasture.  The bison this morning as they investigate my stuff. Sometimes when I'm working the bison will become curious and come over by me to investigate.  Prior to having a bull it wasn't a big deal as they would always run away when I approached them on foot.  However, with the start of the spring breeding period (which I have been able to ascertain by some rather overtly vulgar behavior on the part of our bull), any approach on foot is not an option.  This was made very clear to me when I attempted to return to my truck and refuel my chainsaw.  All of the bison females had gathered around my truck and tools to look things over and, as soon as I attempted to approach, our hero asserted his

The bison watching me from the pasture as I paint. More than once over the past year I've looked up from my work to see that the bison have been watching me.  If I'm working within the pasture fence, they will very slowly move closer and closer to me as I work.  One time last fall, while working on the fence at night, I happened to look up and saw that the bison had moved to within 10 feet of me.  The flash of the headlamp sent them all running away, but, a minute later, they were back and I decided to play it safe and call it a night.  Bison can sometimes be scared away, but it's not guaranteed. Things have been pretty uneventful here on the ranch lately.  Most of my time has been split between equipment upkeep and pasture expansion.  By "equipment" I am mostly referring to the machinery I use on the ranch, such as the tractor or livestock trailer.  I usually divide the field of equipment upkeep into two categories: maintenance and repairs.  Maintenance is

There hasn't been anything interesting to report about the ranch, but I was recently sent the above photograph by the surveillance system.  I suspect the pictured bird may have mistaken the surveillance camera housings for man-made nest boxes and attempted to enter the "front door" only to find it was blocked by a pane of glass.