Fabulous Fall 2023
I hope your October was as educational and fun as ours was. We had four different school field trips. Thanks Tech Trep Academy of Idaho and the Trout Creek Adventist School! Super fun to share the herd with all the kids and to teach about bison.
We also got to debut our extra special herd member, Barney the Bison, at the second annual Ag Days at the Sanders County Fairgrounds. MSU Extension agent, Wendy Carr, put on a fabulous event for all the third graders in the county. Here’s a link to the story in the Sanders County Ledger:
Activities connect community with agriculture - Sanders County Ledger (scledger.net)
We got barney in 2021 as a two year old bison bull who had been a bottle baby. This was his first time really getting out there and promoting bison the way only he can.
Barney’s Story
Barney was born in April, 2019 in Conrad MT. He was a twin. Often, bison cows who have twins will abandon one and raise the other. Barney’s mom rejected him, and the rancher found him in a snowbank. The tips of his ears were frozen off. The rancher gave him to the neighbor, Wylie, who had a few bison and trained cutting horses. Wylie and his twin 5-year-old boys fed Barney sheep’s milk from a bottle and got him a good start in life. When Barney was almost two years old, Wylie sold his other bison and Barney was lonely. He tried to make friends with the horses and a donkey that lived there, but it wasn’t the same. Wylie wanted Barney to have bison friends, so we went and got him and brought him to Thompson Falls. After a few weeks of getting to know him, we took him out to meet our bison herd. At first, they thought Barney was strange. The big bull and the lead cow sniffed him and ran back to the herd. Barney kept running back to us and was kind of afraid of the new bison. After about an hour, some younger bison went out and made friends with Barney and he decided to stay with them and start grazing on some grass.
Now he stays with the herd most of the time. Sometimes he comes into the corral so we can hang out with him. We got to brush him and give him extra treats to get him ready to go to the fairgrounds. We are so glad we were able to bring him.
Is Barney a “normal” bison?
No! Barney was a bottle baby, he bonded with people when he was very young, and he likes people. Most bison do not like people, and they will either run away or attack if they feel threatened. Never approach any animal in the wild or on a ranch. It can be very dangerous.
Fun Facts about Bison
Bison calves weigh about 60# when they are born. They are born reddish-orange and nicknamed red dogs. Wolves cannot tell the difference between orange and green, so their orange color gives them some camouflage in the green grass.
Bison babies are usually born in April, May and June.
Bison live to be 20-25 years old. They can run 35 miles an hour and jump 6 feet high. Bull bison typically grow up to 2500# and stand 6 feet tall at the hump. Barney won’t grow that big because as a bottle baby he did not get the best nutrition.
Before the 1800s there were 60 million bison in North America, but they were hunted nearly to extinction. There were less than 500 by 1900. Now there are about 500,000 bison in North America of which 30,000 are wild and the rest are ranch raised. In contrast, there are 30 million beef cattle and 9.4 million dairy cattle.
What’s the difference between a buffalo and a bison? Technically, the “American Buffalo” are genus and species Bison, Bison. They got the nickname buffalo from the early explorers who were familiar with the water buffalo in Asia and Africa. The nick name stuck, and many people use the terms bison and buffalo interchangeably. It only makes a big difference when people are trying to sneak water buffalo meat into pet food or human food and just call it “buffalo.” Water buffaloes are much cheaper to raise, and they are not as nutrient dense as bison.
Why does bison cost so much more than beef? It takes two years longer to get bison meat on your table. The heifers have their first babies at age 3, instead of 2 like a beef cow. The bull calves raised for butchering are not ready to harvest until they are 2 ½ years old instead of 1 ½ years for a beef steer.
At the Harlow Ranch we have a herd of 80 bison. We started raising them in 2020. We offer ranch tours for people to come feed the bison. We sell bison meat online and in our ranch gift shop. Sometimes we sell calves or bison bulls to other ranchers.
Bison ranching is an incredibly rewarding business. It is very hard work, but spending time with these magnificent animals makes it worth it. It is not easy to make money ranching, but if you run a ranch like a business, you can make a living doing something you love. Farming and ranching can make a big impact in your community providing healthy, fresh, local food.