Weekends should be filled with fun, no matter where you are so this weekend we went to visit a friend's small bison ranch which he refers to as Buffalo-asis.
Now this bison ranch isn't like a cattle ranch out west. This "ranch" contains 5 young bison (commonly but incorrectly referred to as buffalo) that are here to simply roam the pasture. The owner loves bison and since he was 9 years old and met a sports mascot that was a live "buffalo," wanted a bison of his own. He finally made his dream come true and purchased property.
After driving through the pottery capital of North Carolina, we explored the acreage in Bennett, NC, about 2 hours east of Charlotte, NC on the ATV. We even got to go into the bison enclosure. There we offered treats to the matriarchal group containing 5 bison and including a 2 month old calf. They weren't exactly friendly but rather skeptical of us and only approached for food. It was pretty cool, nonetheless, and we learned all about bison. I didn't realize that the hump on an adult bison's back is actually due to the size of the vertebrae on their spines and not just made up of fat.
Bison are native to the prairies of the western United States but are seldom seen outside of national parks. They can survive outdoors year round and really don't require any maintenance like cattle do. They graze on grass and need fresh water but otherwise, you just let them be apparently.
It's pretty normal to see cows, horses, goats, and even llamas, alpacas, and sheep. But bison aren't as typical. The bulls (males) are usually slaughtered for their meat at 2-3 years of age before they become too aggressive but sometimes people, like this friend of ours, just wants to live where the buffalo, I mean bison, roam.
Now this bison ranch isn't like a cattle ranch out west. This "ranch" contains 5 young bison (commonly but incorrectly referred to as buffalo) that are here to simply roam the pasture. The owner loves bison and since he was 9 years old and met a sports mascot that was a live "buffalo," wanted a bison of his own. He finally made his dream come true and purchased property.
After driving through the pottery capital of North Carolina, we explored the acreage in Bennett, NC, about 2 hours east of Charlotte, NC on the ATV. We even got to go into the bison enclosure. There we offered treats to the matriarchal group containing 5 bison and including a 2 month old calf. They weren't exactly friendly but rather skeptical of us and only approached for food. It was pretty cool, nonetheless, and we learned all about bison. I didn't realize that the hump on an adult bison's back is actually due to the size of the vertebrae on their spines and not just made up of fat.
Bison are native to the prairies of the western United States but are seldom seen outside of national parks. They can survive outdoors year round and really don't require any maintenance like cattle do. They graze on grass and need fresh water but otherwise, you just let them be apparently.
It's pretty normal to see cows, horses, goats, and even llamas, alpacas, and sheep. But bison aren't as typical. The bulls (males) are usually slaughtered for their meat at 2-3 years of age before they become too aggressive but sometimes people, like this friend of ours, just wants to live where the buffalo, I mean bison, roam.
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