Where the buffalo roam

Our tiny plot of land is essentially a square. It was once part of the playground of an old school. After the school was closed (in the late 50s), the land was divided into three lots. The lot we have is the middle one. The one to our north is our neighbors' lot where they have a house similiar in age and style to ours. The lot to our south is about half the size of ours and still houses the original school house. We are bounded on one side by the road on which we live. The last side (the back) is backed up against a much larger plot of land. This land actually surrounds all of the land that originally belonged to the school house. The owners of this land use it to house a herd of buffalo (American Bison, to be exact).

The first time we saw the bison, they freaked out our goats. Now our dogs continue to bark at them in the early morning, but somehow learn to live with them as the day wears on. My H has taken up feeding them apples. He will fill a plastic bin with the windfall apples and toss them to whichever bison feel brave enough to approach.

There was always one bison who kept apart from the rest of the herd. It was a big one, and clearly had been around for awhile. This bison had an injured leg (slight limp) and horns that looked like they'd seen some fighting. We made the assumption that this was an older male bison who was no longer (or maybe never was) the dominant one of the herd. It was a bit thinner than many of it's herdmates, but we figured that was due to age. This bison had a strong affection for apples and would come right up to my husband to get them. Eventually, it got to the point where it would take them from his hand. Last weekend, it took one from my hand! We even got to see this bison nose to nose with one of our dogs - with no aggression or fear from either party.

This particular bison got used to hanging around. On Sunday, it brought a friend with it on it's visit. H fed them both apples but the 'friend' was obviously wary. He dumped a pile of apples there so that they could eat them while we contintued with the apple picking. Next thing we know, our dogs are barking like crazy. A truck had pulled up to the fence (from the buffalo field). It was the owner of the herd and he came looking for this lone bison. He was wondering why she kept hanging around down here and he needed her up at the main barn. Yes, you read that right...this huge bison is a SHE! And apparently, her companion was following her around because he thought she was 'available'. Our neighbor 'herded' the bison across the field and over the hill with his truck.

About 20 minutes later, he came back. He wanted to appologize for being short and to introduce himself. We all chatted for about an hour. He apparently lives down the road a ways, but owns the land that surrounds us. He uses the original barn on the property, but the tiny house remains vacant. He sells his bison meat through a CSA - so we got his card and we hope to sign up for a share next year. The reason he came looking for that bison and had to get her up at the barn? She was due for slaughtering on Monday. Turns out that she was more than 23 years old and was having a hard time keeping on the weight. She'd lived a full life and he felt it was time for a culling before she froze to death this winter or something. We were feeling a bit guilty for feeding apples to someone else's buffalo, but after hearing that, I was glad that we did. She deserved to spend her last day in the warm sun enjoying an endless supply of apples!

On Tuesday morning while I was milking the goats, I saw the bison heard come running over the hill and into the field behind us again. It was a smaller herd...but such is the circle of life.

Biking and buffalo

The view down our road from our mailbox - and basically what we see first as we bike to work.

I'm very happy to be able to report that I biked in to work today. I had planned on biking home last night and then in again today, but that didn't work out. I left work last night all dressed in my biking gear and discovered that my rear tire was very flat. I could have sat in the parking lot and changed it (I always carry a spare tube), but I was fearful that whatever caused it would keep causing it as this was my second one in less than 2 weeks. I just got in the car and drove home.

Turns out, riding would have been a mistake. The flat was caused by a hole in my rim tape that I'd already tried to patch with electrical tape once before. Had I put in a new tube and tried to ride home, I would have likely flatted and been stranded on the side of the road somewhere! The other problem was that without new rim tape, I had no way of fixing it so that I could ride any other day this week, either. I was not pleased. Luckily, my generous husband offered me one of his wheels (he has a spare pair). It happened to be the same size as mine, so I accepted his offer. I changed out the tire and got the bike all set up to ride the next morning. Fast foward to this morning, and WOW, riding that bike with a MUCH nicer and lighter wheel made a ton of difference in how it felt. It was so much easier and less tiring! Now I'm shopping for new, lighter wheels for that bike. It's currently got heavy duty touring wheels (they are basically bullet-proof) and I really don't need that for my commute. Anyway, the ride in was good and I'm sitting here feeling way more relaxed for having gotten some good cardio in!

When I was out milking Sass in the dark this morning, I kept hearing this wooshing sound coming from the neighboring field. I couldn't see anything (it was still very dark) and when I listened quietly, the best I could guess was that it was the wind blowing in the grasses. It just seemed odd that it only appeared to be coming from that field. Anyway, I ignored it and went about my business as usual. Not long after H got up, both dogs tore out the back door at a full run...barking like mad. H yelled 'buffalo' from his position at the bathroom window and told me to get my camera. I pulled the dogs inside, grabbed my camera, threw on my shoes and went out back. Sass was getting nervous while the dogs were barking, but once I'd shut them inside, she calmed down again. But man...the buffalo were amazing!

There were about 10 or 15 of them. They were right near our fence, so I approached and snapped a few photos. It was still quite dark, so only the ones where I was really close (so that the flash illuminated them) actually worked. They were really cool to see so close. H was feeding them apples and they loved them. They wouldn't take them from his hand or anything, but when he threw them out there, they gobbled them up.

H tossing apples to the buffalo - he's in the middle holding a big plastic bin in his hands (sorry it's so dark!).

We had to cut our visit short so that we could get ready to leave, but it was a neat way to start the day. By the time we were ready to leave, I noticed that they have moved on, so I let the dogs out again.

As we biked up the road on our way to work, we passed the same buffalo one more time. I guess they make the rounds of the perimeter of their enclosure. I'm now thinking that the wooshing sound I thought was wind was likely them, moving slowly along the far side of that same field. Based on the speed at which they seem to progress...it would put them at our fence right about when we saw them. It's a little odd to think that I was out there in the dark with 15 buffalo. It just seems so primitive and yet definitely very cool!

The buffalo return

It looks like Monday's are the day that the buffalo get access to the field behind our house. I got up, went to feed the dogs, and while I was giving them water, Maggie ran outside for a quick pee before breakfast. She immediately started barking like mad. It was the 'hey, something is out here' bark, too. I looked, and sure enough, a HUGE prehistoric looking buffalo was just on the other side of the fence not 25 ft from where Sass and Buddy were munching. Neither of them seemed too concerned. I went about my inside work and by the time I'd headed out to do the milking, the buffalo had moved on. I am thankful that they all seemed to live quietly together this time. I've been terrified of Sass hurting herself in our absence should the buffalo reappear while we were at work. I guess their excitement and running around the last time was what upset Sass the most. If they are calm, she appears calm. Kind of like the dog whisperer, huh?

Last night, H ordered plans to build our own cheese press. We want to be able to make some of the hard cheeses, so a press is necessary. I still have plans to make feta, I just need to find time. This coming weekend, I'm taking Friday off. No reason other than my desire to have 4 days off in a row with a good chance of getting a lot done AND getting in some fun bike rides. Maybe I'll be able to make some cheese then.

Tonight I'm leaving early to meet the rep from the second siding company. This company is the same company that has done some work on our house when the previous owners had it. I'm really curious to see what they come back with for an estimate.

Tonight I'll be making more blackberry jam, and perhaps picking some more apples. I'll also be uploading all the photos off my camera and updating the last few posts in this blog! I will need to take and post 5 week old chick pictures on Wednesday, too.