Buffalo Chips 7/12/09
There once was a time I would examine anything with a tail. No job was too big no job too small, I would tackle them all. No distance was too great. Rising fuel prices have tempered my long distance driving enthusiasm. I have since learned to inquire about physical property layout, animal restraint facilities and any other oddities in home field rules. I try to limit any of the "Running of the Bulls" type procedures. I no longer need a huge adrenaline rush from cheating death again. I no longer scale fences with a single bound. Accelerated unplanned vertical lunges and leaps are extremely fatiguing. Missing grabbing the top rail or worse feeling it give way indicates a very bad personal moment in the immediate future. I prefer openings referred to as gates as boring is indeed very good. Sauntering through at a safe leisurely gait is nice. I have smelled a lot of bull's breath and I do not find it appealing.
I remember one farm call sequence or actually a large animal call very well. It centered about four Buffalos, a bull, two cows and a 4-month-old calf. Buffalos fall under the classification of ruminants and are subject to similar testing requirements such as cattle. Back at the time of this large animal call, the requirements stated a need for a negative Brucellosis (Bangs Disease) and a Tuberculosis test (TB). These requirements mandate tests when there is a change of ownership or sold under private treaty. There are time restraints a negative brucellosis test is good for 30 days. A negative caudal fold TB test charts were valid for 60 days.
Even back then, there had to be an individual method of identification of each animal. There are three problems with official USDA APHIS metal ear tags. First, tags need to be put in the ears. Second, they will rip an ear and come out. Third, tags must be visually verified correct for regulatory work. Getting close enough to read an ear tag on an unrestrained Buffalo is almost as dangerous as putting a tag in.
The State of Michigan does not have any stipulations on animal restraint while you are getting blood samples for Brucellosis or doing a right caudal tail fold TB test. When testing cattle for either TB or Brucellosis you have options of using a stanchion method, running the cattle through a "Ranger" chute, or God forbid the rope-em and choke-em lariat around a tree or a substantial fence post. The lariat system worked best if the single animal was in a pen. I have done multiple animals in a pen but there never seemed to be enough bedding to soak up the "moisture" when they were running around the pen. Dropping a loop over a cow or bull running through straw, solid and wet elimination products is a learned art form. I had sporadic success getting the loop where the head is going. I will never achieve cowboy status with loop control. Thank goodness, for a quick release honda on the loop end. The quick release allows you to break the loop and releases the critter. They either are relieved and trundle off or are very angry that you interfered with their serenity. Bulls have an attitude about this they will hurt you severely.
I have not had extensive need to restrain Buffalos. There are significant physical differences between cattle and bison. Cattle have a more balanced muscle mass distribution. The biggest difference is bison are front end heavy. The cervical vertebrae are in the same ratio of seven. When comparing necks a cow resembles a giraffe closer than a bison. This is the same sort of ratio you get comparing a badger's neck to a weasel. For restraint purposes bison are virtually "neck less". This is important as a headstall chute designed to close behind the neck on a cow will not physically fit or close quick enough to restrain a bison. Roping bison is not a good idea. You need a secure place to anchor the cinching end. Even with a quick release, ropes are dangerous when releasing the closed loop end around the animal's head. They fly off at the speed of scars. I have a cheek reminder from a garden variety beef steer.
My case encounter was a shaky experience, literally. The bison were at a local livestock auction barn in Dundee. There were reasonable gates, alleyways to shuffle off the buffalo. The gates were not strong enough to squeeze a critter in to a corner nor were there enough workers to hold a gate without animal or human injury. Luckily, there were two well-built draft horse stalls. Twelve-foot railroad ties sunk vertically in the ground. Horizontal slates were seasoned and dried oak, a full two inch by twelve wide. The bull filled one like a stuffed sausage. The cows were different it took two to plug the chute as one was able to turn around in side. You have never lived until you have seen a bison go vertical and perform a perfect pirouette. These critters bellowed like thunder and literally shook the stalls. It was quite a project to climb up the horizontals bend over grab a tail and pray bison had an underside accessible tail vein for a brucellosis blood draw. It turns out they do. I did not realize how hard it would be to get samples and do an intradermal skin injection for the TB test. It turned out that was easier than putting ear tags in. I finally finished procedures for that day. Did I mention you read the TB test in 72 hours? Oh, Joy. Was I happy the TB and Brucellosis tests were negative? You bet.
I was in Rapid City, South Dakota for a cousin's reunion a few years ago. I had the opportunity to go through Custer State Park. I was able to see the massive wood corral containment system they use to work and process the buffalo herd in the fall. For the herd's health, they cull or select individuals for auction. The prairie grass and winter fodder will support only a fixed number of bison, elk, mule deer and their predators. For the life of me, I do not understand why people get out of their vehicles to pet and photograph these undomesticated behemoths. Once you see the size and raw power these critters have, you wonder what goes through their minds. I understand it is a frequent event for tourists. It must be a gene pool thinning procedure.
I did notice there was a similarity with the buffalo I dealt with, they had pierced ears and tags of their own. I know how fun it is to put tags in their ears.
Buffalo chips have never had the same meaning to me since.
For more information about a specific case, consult your veterinarian.