Ranch bison break out, roam Eastern Oregon

registerguard.com ^ | December 2, 2003 | AP

[bicycle thug]

ENTERPRISE - Buffalo are again roaming the wilderness in Eastern Oregon.

The shaggy beasts are indigenous to the state but are now classified as domestic livestock, not wildlife, under animal and health statutes that govern their importation into Oregon. But that hasn't kept them confined to fenced pastures.

Ranchers are raising an estimated 2,000 of the naturally migratory animals, and several herds have escaped.

Their presence is a headache for private landowners and public land managers - and a hairy surprise for some hikers - across Eastern Oregon. Yet some ranchers advocate setting more bison free as a natural solution to thinning underbrush in fire-prone forests.

On a mountain ridge at the north end of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, a herd of runaway bison spent part of last summer and this fall munching grass and startling visitors.

The bison escaped from Water Canyon Ranch along Oregon 82, between Elgin and Wallowa, said Kendall Clark, the U.S. Forest Service district ranger in Enterprise.

Forest Service employees worried that the bison might wander into the heart of the 560-square-mile wilderness, popular among backpackers, horseback riders and hunters.

Encounters between humans and bison appear to be on the rise in Eastern Oregon, although so far no injuries have been reported.

[bicycle thug]

ping

[glock rocks]

mmmmm. bison.

[skinkinthegrass]

Bison....does it taste like Chicken?

[Timocrat]

From personal experience I can tell you these animals will charge thru gates, fences and the walls of buildings, although they could be hand fed, if you kept your eye on them!

[resistance]

No! It does not taste like chicken. Its somewhere between beef and elk.

[glock rocks]

You will want to rub some in your hair. BBQ bison is some of the tastiest grub on the planet. My first exposure with bison was at a mountainman meeting. Just the smoke from the pit was hypnotic.

Just as resistance says... somewhere between beef and elk (...and heaven).

[glock rocks]

I asked the ranger at Farewell Bend park in Idaho (where Lewis and Clark said farewell) just what was the problem with that fence there. The "fence" was made from 12"X12" timbers... a six foot chunk of fence was missing... he said a bull bison got an attitude. The person who was teasing the bison lived.

I saw a old-style Caddy DeVille that lost an encounter with a bison. Both were parked when the challenge was taken. The Caddy lost. big time.

[DefCon]

I ate one of them things one time
(well, I ate PART of one of 'em anyway)
and I hope they get loose all over the place.
Not that they would be much 'sport' in hunting them,
but them is some mighty tasty animals, them buffalos is.

But can you imagine one a them big summabitches
getting hit by a car on the interstate ?

[76834]

The ranchers raise a few around here in Grand Central Texas.
Totally excellent eating, especially when roasted over a grill.
Would advise the locals up there to have your rifles handy and plenty of space in the deep freeze.

[DefCon]

"...I saw a old-style Caddy DeVille that lost an encounter with a bison.
Both were parked when the challenge was taken..."
- - -
Just curious, I don't know a lot about such things,
but just how DO you park a bison?

[GreenLanternCorps]

"But can you imagine one a them big summabitches
getting hit by a car on the interstate ?"

Don't hit it with a car, you'll just make it angry...

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[doug from upland]

The last time they escaped was at the bison-tennial.

[StevieB]

Farewell Bend park in Idaho ...

Little nitpicking. Farewell Bend is where the Oregon Trail split off from the Snake River. At this point the river heads north into Hell's Canyon, and the Trail takes a northwest line towards Pendelton and the Columbia River. (The corner of Oregon that is cut off is a pretty rugged but beautiful area.)

Lewis and Clark never got this far south in Idaho. They cut across north of the Salmon River/Wilderness area -- in the Clearwater River area.

[76834]

I have a good friend who is a locomotive engineer on the railroad and he told me a story about bison.
One got out of the fence and got into the middle of the railroad tracks. My friend blew the horn etc. tried everything to get the damm thing off the tracks but that just seemed to make the bison madder.
The bison charged the train head on.

[stboz]

Where is Shumanitou-tanka-owhashe when we need him?

[Salvation]

Home, home on the range......

[Timocrat]

We had a young bull bison in a corrall who didn't like the idea of being put in a "press" to get castrated. Ran at a steel gate and bent it to a 90 degree angle. They're like tanks on four legs. As a neighbour said after inspecting the gate it gives you a new respect for the native americans who hunted the things with a bow and arrow from horseback.

[glock rocks]

Little nitpicking.

thanks. I went there on my first vacation with my bride (I don't really want to count how many years ago) and we spent the night there. hmmmm. perhaps I have lost my memory over the years... but I'd rather think I was just too distracted back then :o)