A few early bison calf observations



So far we are still at eight calves, with the possibility of two more.  

To preserve a few of my early bison calf observations while they are still fresh in my memory I've creating the following list of things I've seen calves do within the first few weeks of life:
  • Wallowing - like adult bison, very young bison like to roll in the dust.  
  • Mounting - calves will mount each other. 
  • Grazing - they predominantly rely on milk from their mothers, young calves will also eat plants.  

  • Combat - although they do not yet have horns, calves seem to enjoy practicing the art of fighting with "horns locked."  
  • Calling - each calf has it's own call that will alert it's mother and potentially bring her running.   The mothers also have a very low pitched call they make to the calf.  The calves don't call very often, but a mother will frequently call to her calf.  
  • Danger avoidance - at a very early age the calves seem to have a good instinct for avoiding being inadvertently crushed by an adult bison.  They also seem to have an interesting startle response to sudden noises.  A couple of times when I've stopped the tractor to observe the herd, I've always found that the noise of the tractor starting back up seems to particularly effect on the calves.  They all immediately jump to their feet and run together in a tight group.  The rest of the herd responds to the calves actions by joining them with tails raised in excitement.  Last week two F-15 Eagles flying at unusually low altitude during a training mission roared overhead and sent the entire herd running for about 20 minutes.   
  • Water - some have asked me if calves need to drink water in addition to milk.  They do. 

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