Our first bison calf

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find a tiny new addition to our bison herd. 
I first noticed something was different when I spotted the calf's head poking up through the grass.   Initially, I wasn't sure if I was imagining the calf was there, but then the calf stood up.  
The mother turns out to be No. 1. 
At one point the calf decided to do some exploring, but mom stayed close behind it. 
It doesn't wander too much though before returning to its mother. 
The mother, still passing the afterbirth in this photograph, is extremely nervous about me being around.  The closest I could get was 200 meters. 

Comments

  1. Tall PinesMay 10, 2017 at 1:03:00 AM EDT

    Congratulations.

    Now to find out if it a male or female. You going to castrate or band the male?

    And get an ear tag in before more calves arrives as it can get confusing as to which calf goes with which mother when the calves start to get independent and run around.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Buffalo DanMay 10, 2017 at 9:35:00 AM EDT

      Thank you. It's certainly a relief to know our bull wasn't a dud.

      We don't plan to castrate of band any males. It's not very common among bison ranchers. Bison mothers are extremely protective of their calves. I'd probably put bison moms in the same category as black bear moms with the exception that black bears have the ability to follow you up a tree.

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