Rounding up the Bison~~~

Charmin · Nov 3, 2009

It's time to round up the bison on the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. Every year the bison are gathered out of the big pastures and baited with cattle cake into the smaller traps by the bison pens. Then they are processed through the corrals and tested for TB and Brucellosis. The new calves are branded with their birth year and fitted with micro chips in their ears. Approximately 400-500 adults are worked per day. The bison working takes approx. one week to complete. The older cows and bulls will be culled off and sold. The herd should be close to 2,700 head this year!!
Bison are an important part of the ecosystem on the Tall Grass Prairie. The Preserve is also doing studies on how bison versus cattle graze on the prairie grasses. Bison and cattle are fitted with tracking collars and their grazing patterns are studied. By doing this, it is easier to understand the impact of each on the prairie grasses and the ecosystem as a whole.
Since my husband is a cowboy on the Preserve, my daughter had the opportunity to ride in the feedtruck while he was "baiting" the bison. She took some really close pictures of the bison and wanted to show them to you all---hope you enjoy!!
Thanks for looking!!
sandcreek

seger98 · Nov 3, 2009

Very good post sandcreek4. Educational & great photos!

Charmin · Nov 3, 2009

seger98 said:
Very good post sandcreek4. Educational & great photos!

Thanks seger98! Its been a great experience for my husband and myself to live and work here on the Preserve. And my kids are learning to be good stewards of the land and appreciate this beautiful place! And (of course) the countless opportunities my daughter has to take wildlife pictures

.....
kind regards,
sandcreek

Mental Granny · Nov 3, 2009

Ok fantastic as usual but, for my education.... can you do a 2 pic one of a Bison with the cattle gene and one with out that is pure Bison? PLEASE! There are soo very many Bison herds in the area I would like to see the difference .... so I will be able to tell .

Thanks! :read2:

Charmin · Nov 3, 2009

Mental Granny said:
Ok fantastic as usual but, for my education.... can you do a 2 pic one of a Bison with the cattle gene and one with out that is pure Bison? PLEASE! There are soo very many Bison herds in the area I would like to see the difference .... so I will be able to tell .

Thanks!

Okay, MG, I was just told that we no longer have any bison on this Preserve with cattle genes--so I modified my post and took that part out! Sorry!

sandcreek

Mental Granny · Nov 4, 2009

Thats ok ! And keep getting her out to take the great pics and you just keep posting them! :icon_sunny:

Charmin · Nov 4, 2009

Mental Granny said:
Thats ok ! And keep getting her out to take the great pics and you just keep posting them!

Will do

. This coming weekend, she's going to take some at the corrals when they're actually working the bison(running them through the chutes, ect..) So we'll add some of those pics to this post.
kind regards,
sandcreek

Mental Granny · Nov 4, 2009

Great will be looking for them! :hello2:

rginn · Nov 5, 2009

Evertime I think I'm gettin the hang of bein a Coloradan, or Coloradite, or whatever the proper term is, I see pics like these and remember where I came from. Think I'll call my dad and see what he's up to today. Great pics. By the way, I don't think you could pay me enough to cowboy buffalo (bison). I always thought them old cows were meaner than the bulls. Tell your husband to take care, which I'm sure he's learned to by now!

Charmin · Nov 5, 2009

RGINN said:
Evertime I think I'm gettin the hang of bein a Coloradan, or Coloradite, or whatever the proper term is, I see pics like these and remember where I came from. Think I'll call my dad and see what he's up to today. Great pics. By the way, I don't think you could pay me enough to cowboy buffalo (bison). I always thought them old cows were meaner than the bulls. Tell your husband to take care, which I'm sure he's learned to by now!

It was a all together different experience for my husband(who was raised around cattle and been horseback most of his life) to learn to work with buffalo. They(buffalo) don't get "handled" but once a year and are so wild, that you have to be extremely careful. The cowboys get to use feedtrucks to "sook" them into the traps, but they also use atv's(4-wheelers) to drive(push) them----and that's a little skill daring sometimes

. After getting the buffalo into the holding pens, they use trucks to "push" them down the alleys into the tubs. After the buffalo are in the tubs, they use rattle paddles/hot shots to keep them moving and eventually they are in the squeeze chute where they get their "check-up"--the micro chips in their ears are scanned and this tells how old they are and general information about the animal.
Here's a couple of pics. from last year of the alleys and pens. The first pic was taken while we were riding in the truck and "shoving" the buffalo into the smaller alleys.
We'll have more pics this weekend!
Thanks RGINN for the comments!

~~sandcreek~~

Mental Granny · Nov 5, 2009

Fantastic would love to do that (In the truck that is) LOL! Can't wait to see Josies shots from this weekend! :icon_sunny:

Charmin · Nov 5, 2009

Mental Granny said:
Fantastic would love to do that (In the truck that is) LOL! Can't wait to see Josies shots from this weekend!

Its pretty fun chasing those things with a truck :laughing9:

, you've just got to be careful and not push them too much and "over stress" them---they sure don't like to be cornered! and will try to jump(seriously!) over the truck to get away!
The first couple of years my husband worked here on the Preserve, they would gather the buffalo with 4-wheelers and it really stressed the buffalo out. Its a whole lot easier and less stressful on the buffalo to use the feed truck and "cookies"(cattle cake) to bait them out of the bigger pastures.
We'll post more pictures as soon as we get them, Mental Granny! and Josie is going to try and take some video, so if she does we'll make one for youtube and post the link.
~~sandcreek~~

pjroo33 · Nov 5, 2009

Whoa!!! Real life Dances with Wolves. Very cool pics.

Charmin · Nov 5, 2009

pjroo33 said:
Whoa!!! Real life Dances with Wolves. Very cool pics.

Sure enough! We just bought the soundtrack from that movie so Josie could make a DVD slideshow of her buffalo pictures and put that as the background music.
Thanks so much for the comments, pjroo33! and glad you enjoyed the pics.!!
kind regards,
sandcreek

naturegirl · Nov 8, 2009

I keep coming back to these pictures, I know what Rginn means, sooo very Oklahoma. The ones where the ground and grass are the same color as the bison are my favorites. I remember when the ATV's arrived. Tom came home just grinning. He said "you ought to see them buffalo boys come flying over a hill on the 4-wheelers" Great pictures.

ng

Charmin · Nov 8, 2009

TAKODA said:
Nice pics. I took one on a sanctioned hunt several years ago . They are bigger than they look in pictures . Good meat too .

Thanks TAKODA! Yes, the meat is really good and very lean. And you are so right about them being bigger than in the pictures--the bulls are HUGE!
Glad you liked the pics. :thumbsup:

.
kind regards,
sandcreek

naturegirl said:
I keep coming back to these pictures, I know what Rginn means, sooo very Oklahoma. The ones where the ground and grass are the same color as the bison are my favorites. I remember when the ATV's arrived. Tom came home just grinning. He said "you ought to see them buffalo boys come flying over a hill on the 4-wheelers" Great pictures.
ng

When the guys used to chase these things on four wheelers, it is really funny.! They'd have to wear goggles because those grass seeds are lethal at 50 miles an hour :laughing9:

as are those rocks that are hidden in the big bluestem. Its been a lot easier the last couple of years using the feed trucks and not near as hard on the cowboys!!
Here's some more pictures from today at the working pens. I took some video, too, that we'll share with you all when we get it finalized.
In a couple of these you can see the buffalo in the "squeeze chute". Notice they had to put a "twitch" on the nose of one to hold it still while they put in a new ear tag(the cow had lost hers). The tag helps keep track of the animal as well as the micro chip that's in its ear.
The last picture is of a new statue donated to the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve from a member of the Nature Conservancy in Colorado. The statue was made by T. Kelsey in 1994.
Thanks for the comments, Naturegirl!!

kind regards,
sandcreek

naturegirl · Nov 8, 2009

They don't look like they like that squeeze chute too much, but that must be a pretty exciting thing to watch. And I don't guess those green things the guys are holding are big fly-swatters, are they? Looking forward to the video, and I actually kinda like the bronze. Not so much how the shedding hair was handled, but I like the loose style of sculpting. Thanks so much for putting a picture of it up.

ng

Charmin · Nov 8, 2009

naturegirl said:
They don't look like they like that squeeze chute too much, but that must be a pretty exciting thing to watch. And I don't guess those green things the guys are holding are big fly-swatters, are they? Looking forward to the video, and I actually kinda like the bronze. Not so much how the shedding hair was handled, but I like the loose style of sculpting. Thanks so much for putting a picture of it up.

ng

Not fly-swatters :laughing7:

. Rattle-paddles and hot-shots really make those buffalo move! My husband has been wearing those paddles out! He doesn't smack the buffalo with them, though, just the sides of the pens. All the noise those paddles make really scares the buffalo and makes them move a little faster through the alleys.

The statue is kinda neat looking--just different than real life--more stylized in form and I'm sure that shedding hair was probably really hard to sculpt. It is a wonderful addition to the Preserves headquarters----People are already getting their pictures taken with it

.
Thanks, NG!
~~sandcreek~~

Monty · Nov 8, 2009

I don't live that far from the tall grass prairie but I haven't been up to see it. I didn't realize there were that many buffs on it either. I thought only a couple of hundred. I need to get out and see my own state! Monty

Charmin · Nov 8, 2009

Monty said:
I don't live that far from the tall grass prairie but I haven't been up to see it. I didn't realize there were that many buffs on it either. I thought only a couple of hundred. I need to get out and see my own state! Monty

Yes, Monty--you sure need to drive up here and see the Preserve. The gift shop/nature room will only be open for about another week or two(it closes during the winter months and opens back up in March). But the Preserve is open year round and you can take a nice scenic drive through the "Bison Loop" and see the historic Bunkhouse at the Preserves headquarters. There are picnic tables(bring a lunch and enjoy the peace and quiet!) and also a Nature Trail near the headquarters. Be sure your tires are aired up and in good condition because its a gravel road you have to drive on to get here.
kind regards,
sandcreek