americanbison

The importance of the herd

By on Wednesday, March 9, 2022

The importance of the herd – Bison society is based on the herd: a group of up to 20 related adult females together with their young.

The total size of the group may number about sixty animals, young and old.

The females in the group stay together for life, but young males leave to join all-male herds when they become mature at the age of three.

Adult bulls join the herd in the breeding season and during migrations, or sometimes for mutual defense, but they rarely stay long.

The herd is led by the oldest, most experienced females, who know where to find the best food and water throughout the year. https://www.americannamedaycalendar.com/

In spring and autumn their quest may take them on long migrations along traditional trails, and at such times many herds travel together.

In the early 19th century the plains bison moved over the American prairies in vast super-herds, with thousands of animals the dusty grasslands into brown seas of bison each autumn.

Yet each bison was able to recognize relatives or herd members, and at the end of the trek the super-herd split up again until it was time for the return journey the following spring.


Living in herds makes good sense for grazing animals like bison.

Despite their size, the yare vulnerable to powerful killers when they are on their won, for they have to spend a lot of time grazing with their head down in the grass.

If they live in a herd, some animals can check for danger while others feed.

And if they are attacked, they can band together for mutual defense.

This is especially important for the bison calves, who would make easy meat for wolves and pumas if they had only their own mothers to protect them.

In a herd they can shelter within a circle of heavily armed adults, standing shoulder to shoulder like a living shield.…

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Yellowstone park

By on Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Yellowstone park – Yellowstone: over 2 million acres of valleys, plateaus and mysterious geological formations.

The world’s first national park was created by an act of congress in 1872 to help protect Americas vanishing wildlife.

This beautiful landscape has been formed over millions of years by fire and ice.

This hotbed of volcanic activity is home to over 50% of the worlds geysers, and you will find more than 300 of them throughout the park, headlined by none other than old faithful. www.mrchensjackson.com

But Yellowstone’s 10,000 thermal anomalies are not the only wonders that keep the park bubbling with activity.

Yellowstone also contains one of the largest and most diverse wildlife populations on the planet.

It is also home to one of the highest concentration of large mammal species in the continental United States.

The primary reason for this large abundance of wildlife is that Yellowstone is one continuous piece of property.

It’s a world biosphere reserve and it’s also one of the most intact ecosystems in North America. It has a full range of predators and prey.

For decades the most popular predators were the biggest, the parks grizzly bears.

During the winter months however, when the bears are in hibernation, the park is taken over by a voice that had long been silenced, wolves.

After a seventy year absence, wolves can once again be heard in Yellowstone.

The animals were exterminated from the park in the 1920s but as part of the endangered species act, 31 wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996.

Now the population has soared to an estimated 306 wolves in the greater ecosystem.

Running free in Yellowstone’s awe- inspiring valleys, is the highest concentration of wolves on the planet.

Yellowstone is one of the best places to see wolves!

But among animals other than predators Yellowstone is home to various prey species.

There are over 30,000 elk in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, the largest herd on the planet.

Thankfully for the wolves, these Elk serve as their primary prey.…

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americanbison

American Bison battling a clash of the titans

By on Wednesday, March 9, 2022

American Bison battling a clash of the titans – American bison are the largest terrestrial mammals in the North America!

They are also a powerful symbol of the Wild West.

Today these creatures are found roaming around Americas national Yellowstone Park.

These shaggy haired wild members of the cattle family were once the most numerous hoofed animals on the American continent!

Now however, there are only a few thousand left in the national parks.

These colossal mammals are nomadic grazers, and they travel in female lead herds of between 20 and 50 animals, eating grasses and other prairie plants as they go. https://www.mrchensjackson.com/

The Bison males (also known as bulls) can reach 6 ½ feet tall and weigh almost a ton.

Bison bulls establish positions of rank by fighting each other.

The bull’s immense head and skull is its only weapon in battles with other males.

The bull will first paw the ground, creating a big dust patch, then he will urinate on the patch, turning the area into a pundit smelling pit, which he will roll on.

The male is now ready to fight! The bison have exceptionally powerful front ends, but it is their heads that they will use as battering rams that are unbelievably resilient.

Using a ton of body weight, the males will charge at each other, sometimes reaching speeds of 30 miles an hour!

They are lucky to have the perfect crash helmet! The skull flexes like plastic to absorb the impact and the brain is protected by a forehead with extra skin for padding.

The strong neck also works as a shock absorber.

Fights as such may take up to about 20 head clashes before one of the bulls will even consider backing down.

It is a real clash of the titans! The dominant bull will earn mating rights over all the females which is something definitely worth fighting for!…

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Buffalo breeding season

By on Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Buffalo breeding season – The bulls are in perfect condition and they are growing more belligerent each day. It is breeding season.

The noise and fury of the breeding season lasts for just two weeks in the summer, but its an interesting two weeks at that.

It occurs in the summer because at this time, all of the females come into heat.

This timing also assures that the buffalo calves will be born in the spring, when there is plenty of grass for it and its mother. www.benchwarmerscoffee.com

When a bull enters the herd, he selects a female in heat.

The bulls are exceptionally good at determine which cows are ready, but the cows play hard to get… thus, the bull develops a strategy: He doesn’t leave her sight and remains within one and a half meters of her as he patiently waits for her permission to mate;

it is the cow’s decision whether or not to accept him.

The bull can spend up to three days following her around, so obsessed by tending to his selected cow and scaring of other males that he rarely stops to eat.

During the rut a courting bull can lose up to 90 kilograms.

A dominant bull reinforces his superiority with aggressive signals, his tail goes up, he bellows he paws and he wallows in the dirt.

The buffalo is polygamous, and so his obsession with one cow fades away and he goes off in search of another.

When the threatening postures don’t work, the bulls resort to fighting.

All of this is also important for the cow, for it is her job to ensure that her mating partner is the best choice for fathering her calves.

Surprisingly, It’s also this time of year that the buffalo encounter another nomadic animal, the tourist.

So many people don’t understand however that the buffalo can be a dangerous animal, and especially during breeding season.

With one flip of the head, they can run their horns through your body, crush your chest, or toss you around.

There are more injuries each year by buffalo in Yellowstone than by any other animals in the park.

They may seem like huge lumbering lawn mowers but they are not, they are nimble and fast and can be very aggressive.…

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Buffalo Calves

By on Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Buffalo Calves – Although the species is starting to flourish again, each year brings a new struggle for the herd.

The newborns hold a key to the herd’s survival, and the first year will be a fight for life, an epic battle that has played out on the Great Plains for tens of thousands of years.

The herd is constantly on the move, and the young must keep up.

At springtime, after a pregnancy that lasts for nine months, the mother bison slips away from the herd to give birth in private.

She licks the calf to clean it and the newborn calf takes its first tentative steps. https://www.benchwarmerscoffee.com/

Newborn calves are wobbly on their legs, but within a few hours they can walk easily.

This is imperative, because if it falls behind, it could easily become prey.

The mother keeps the calf hidden for one or two days until it can walk well before she and calf rejoin the herd.

A single calf is born to each cow about once every two years. The mother needs to bond with the calf if it’s going to survive.

As soon as the calves join the buffalo herd, they form close ties with each other, but the heard is constantly on the go and it isn’t always easy for them to keep up.

One of their first struggles may be crossing a river. Within a few weeks the calves are practicing their fighting techniques.

They are now weaned from their mother’s milk and graze along with the other herd. It may look like they are having g fun and games, but this is a critical time in a calves life.

Winter is only months away, and the calves must prepare for winter survival.

They must spend this time of year building the body strength that will protect them during the coming winter.

They need to gain about six times their current weight before the first snowfall of late autumn.

Even during the best of times, the calves should never wander from the safety of the herd.

Luckily for the calves however, the herd is always on the lookout.

A cow may live for 20 years, and may give birth every spring, starting at three years of age.

Thus, bison herds may grow to astronomical proportions.

It’s no wonder then, that buffalo were once the most populated mammal in North America.…

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