Posted on 05/16/2016 5:01:57 PM PDT by Innovative
A bison calf that tourists loaded into their vehicle at Yellowstone National Park because they were concerned for its welfare could not be reunited with its herd and had to be euthanized, park officials said Monday as they reasserted the importance of avoiding wildlife
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Heard an expert on CNN say the calf was rejected because it would’ve no longer smelled like the mom or the herd after being separated too long. Seems like your trick might’ve gotten him back in the pack.
They were from the government and they were there to help.
Thanks for the info!!
I wonder if the threat of Brucellosis (Bangs) may have been a determining factor in putting the calf down.
I know Bison are carriers of Bangs.
I would think just transporting the calf through cattle country would have been a paperwork nightmare.
Probably not worth it for just one calf.
I remember, back in the 1960’s, having to retest our entire 100 head herd just because one cows test came back “possible” for Bangs.
We weren’t allowed to sell, move or slaughter for home consumption until *every* single one tested negative.
I raised a piglet on a bottle and several calves too. It’s not that difficult.
You make a good point. I believe that the rangers were just typical government employees who felt it was a nuisance to have a young animal in trouble brought to them. To try and make sure that it didn't happen again they fined and berated the good Samaritans. When they got called on it they came up with a bunch of explanations to justify what they did. Some of their explanations are being parroted here by people who have never had any experience raising cattle.
I grew up with cows and horses and other farm animals; I am sure that many others here did as well. The most interesting thing to me is the reaction here from people in this thread who actually have experience with cattle and those who don't. It seems very unlikely to me that the rangers who killed the poor thing had any experience raising cattle. They were just typical government employees and didn't want to bother finding someone who could have taken care of the calf for a month or so until it could have been reunited with the herd.
My parents still have a herd of beef cattle. Calves get separated from the rest of the herd fairly frequently and have difficulties. Most frequently the calves that have difficulties are from young cows that for whatever reason are just bad mothers the first time they have a calf. If the calves do not get milk for a couple of days they are a mess. That is why the feed store sells formula for calves. After a little intervention most frequently everything turns out fine.
There are differences between bison and cattle but both have been successfully domesticated and their behaviors are in general very similar. People often cross breed for various reasons. Bison typically sell for higher prices than most types of cattle. But cattle have their advantages, as far as I am concerned beef tastes better. And cow hide is actually a better and more durable product than buffalo hide.
You are a good soul
I read a story someplace about a woman who put her pet buffalo up for sale. It was a house pet and there were pictures of the animal inside her house. I would like to have a pet buffalo but I don’t want it in my house.
I found a baby bird hopping around on the ground at the park this weekend, Its parents (I assume) were flying around freaking out. I let nature take its course (quickly).
Not the smartest birds, choosing to nest in a dog park.
My wife's dad worked on her grandparents farm until he joined the army in the late 1930s. Her dad had pictures of him standing next to bison pulling large farm wagons on the farm when he was growing up. When my wife was growing up her teacher didn't believe her when she told her teacher that they used domesticated bison as work animals. Her dad took the pictures to school to show my wife's teacher and tell the kids about the bison. My wife's brother has the pictures these days.
I never considered that buffalo could be domesticated.
I never considered that buffalo could be domesticated.
Mom, where's dinner? I'm hungry.
Sorry kids. Somebody idiot took your dinner for a ride in a Sequoia.
Buffalo are known to be easier to raise than cattle for a number of reasons, mostly that they are more normally more self reliant. But they are not as easy to domesticate. I am not sure what techniques were used by farmers to get them to do work. My wife’s dad claimed that they were smarter than cattle, similar to mules vs horses, but it might be more like dogs vs wolves. Only herd animals are wild but not carnivorous. My guess is that bison were coerced to work using pain and brute force.
Our family’s friend who raised buffalo claimed that they were like wild cows on welfare... whatever that means. I think that when they realize that they get fed regularly that they keep coming back for more.
My parents have Hereford cows these days which my dad cross breads with a big red hairy almost cartoonish looking Scottish Highland Bull. These cows have a very pleasant disposition and are very easy to control. Cow breeds have different characteristics and personalities just like dog breeds. I can’t remember the breeds name, but the cows my dad had when we were growing up were a hardier breed of beef cow with good sized horns and a little bit of a feisty attitude. We used to carry 2x4s with us to smack them to get them to go where we wanted them to go.
The property behind us started getting developed when I was a little kid and the cows used to decide that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence and they would get out and terrorize the surrounding neighborhoods. Since they had big horns all the people thought that they were a herd of “bulls”. They were all afraid if they had red on that they would be charged and silly stuff like that. Fortunately the sheriff’s department was undermanned if my dad wasn’t home my sisters, my little brother and I could usually get them back in our field before a deputy arrived.
Usually, we carried 2x4s to smack them with, but sometimes we could bring buckets with grain or just gravel to get them to run after us.
Park Rangers are not there to save animals or even protect the forest. They are there to control the people. If anything needs cleaning up, they always have volunteers do it.
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I’ve seen elderly women manhandled by the park police for sitting at a table that was reserved.
Gross over-reactions are their stock in trade.
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There are plenty of farms that would have taken it. I mean farms that actually raise bison. But of course, that would take a lot of paperwork and trouble wouldn’t it?
Very interesting, where is this happening, what state?
My husband used to raise beef cattle, mixed breeds. Now he raises rodeo Bulls. They are not a particular breed either. If they buck they are in!
We are from Washington state. I am sure that both you and your husband probably know quite a bit more about cattle than I do. I basically just did a whole lot of chasing them around, feeding them, castrated the little bulls on occasion, coerced them into trailers, but mostly had to throw a whole lot of hay or alfalfa bails around.
My brother actually put himself through flight school by first going to school to become a horseshoer. He still shoes his own horses, but he has been a captain at Southwest Airlines for many years now.
We did like to climb up on the big bulls when we were feeding them when we were kids, and occasionally jump on a cow or bull just to harass them a little. But the only one who did any rodeo in my family was my Uncle Ron. He is a veteran and has always seemed completely fearless and has a very high pain threshold. I hate to admit it but I have shot myself in the leg with a roofing nailer by accident before and it felt like a bad bee sting, but my uncle actually nailed his hand to the side of a barn, pulled it out and kept working.
One time my dad had a big bull that he was going to take to the butcher to be slaughtered. This was a bull who would normally get in the stock trailer to go visit other herds without any trouble at all, but he could sense that something was different and would not cooperate with my dad at all. My Uncle grabbed him by the horns and the bull went running around the field for ten minutes or so, but my uncle would not let go of his horns. The bull finally gave up and my Uncle led him into the trailer.
My dad has his cows for a retirement hobby these days as well. I know nothing about rodeo, other than going to a couple of them to watch my uncle many years ago. Other than growing up with cattle, I don’t know much about the cattle business.
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