Jan. 22, 2004.

This evening I watched the buffalo herd come off the bluff northwest of the house. They ambled down the draw that leads to what we call the homestead site and began crossing east through the newly fenced pasture I have dubbed the River Pasture. They paused at various spring-fed water holes and moved slowly eastward, down river. They really like this new pasture. Watching them put me on mind of several things: the magnificence of the animal itself, the solidarity of the herd as a group, (ie., grazing habits, patterns of movement, social structure), and the quality of meat that this animal produces.

Part of the magnificence of the animal itself is its size and appearance:
large, shaggy, high-shouldered, low headed with relatively small and low hindquarters compared to the head and forequarters of the animal. That is what everyone recognizes. I frequently see a different animal. Since I am around the herd so often, I can recognize individuals by their horns or their scars or the shape of their head, sometimes by their attitude. I also see the playfulness, the quickness of their movements, displaying more agility than an initial glance would discern. I see them loping casually along, or running flat out and hard charging, or playfully bouncing along on an all four stiff-legged gait reminiscent of a pogo stick. I see them bucking and kicking and head butting sometimes playfully, sometimes not playfully at all. I see them act as a herd bonding the diversely occupied individuals into a single fluid group. There is more, but this is a good beginning.

As a group, the herd moves together, sometimes charging rapidly up a draw just to come to a standstill on the flat above the breaks. I see them flow through a gate in a rush, eager to be on the other side, anxious not to be left behind, except perhaps a small group of mostly older bulls that segregate themselves from the herd after the breeding is done-or maybe the herd segregates itself from them. The calves play until its time for the herd to move into a uni fied action, and then the calves "mother up" immediately if possible. If mothering up is not immediately possible, they will move with the herd until it stops, and then will seek out their mother cows, who will be looking for them.

But the magnificence of the animal in the full circle of its life may well be in the meat it produces. Not the taste and texture only but the quality of health it contributes to by its low fat and low cholesterol content. For those interested in their own physical well-being, who consider their health and that of their family to be a foremost consideration of their diet and eating habits, grass fed, free range, field killed and dressed buffalo meat is definitely one sure way to go.

I have two sisters and a brother-in-law who I try to keep supplied with buffalo meat from wildideabuffalo. All three of them are a little older than I, and my sisters pay particular attention to the health and diet for all of them; so a couple of years ago I introduced them to wildideabuffalo meat. They loved it, and hardly eat any other meat. The reports they get from their doctors from their annual checkups seem to attest to the contribution to their health that the meat provides. That makes me happy.

In the morning I will look out over the River Pasture, probably about dawn or shortly thereafter, and expect to see the buffalo herd placidly going about their business of building low-fat, nearly cholesterol-free protein. I will know that I have been able not only to have a positive effect on someone else's lives, but also toward a return of the American Bison to another portion of the Great Northern Plains.