This was not planned but since we decided to take a little drive, I thought why not use this opportunity to post about it. I mean has anyone actually posted about using a Bison Fam as an educational tool? I know it’s wild but really cool.
Some background info. I’m currently up in Delhi, New York to quarantine. We are privileged to own a house (my parents). Funny enough years ago when I was a kid, well pre teen (like 2003 or 2004) we came across this farm while driving some back roads. The farm is Cody – Shane Acres. Now it does say it’s in Hamden, which I guess the tow lines are funny like that but we take backroads so it’s about 3 turns and 10 minutes from our place. They do sell the bison meat if you are looking to purchase, it makes really good burgers. However that’s not the goal of this post, as if I really had one.
Skip forward to last June. Matthew and I took our annual field trip to Governor’s Island, in NYC. Looks like this year is a bust so we are going to make due. Anyway, while visiting Castle William, we entered the gift shop. Considering I had promised to get Matt one thing from the year before, well I was keeping my promise. He choose this adorable stuffed Bison, and this is when his obsession began. Yup, Bison went everywhere from field trips, vacation and anywhere he was. Now you may think, but it’s just a stuffed animal, how is that even educational? And how is this leading to the Bison Farm? Be patient child, ha totally kidding, I’m getting to it.
I and well Matthew certainly helped, use Bison (the stuffed animal) as a jumping point to learn about real bisons. We learned about where they are from, what they eat, and so much more. Since then I had been promising we could go visit the Bison Farm upstate, and today is the today. While we can’t go pet the Bison we can watch from afar, which is still pretty cool.
So these are the other resources we used to learn about Bison, in case you decide to go on your own Bison adventure.
You can find a lot more info on the AMNH website and also take a virtual tour if you can’t get there in person (whether your not in NYC or during quarantine)
And we love to use National Geographic as a resource as well, I mean they are a fantastic science resource.
Did You Know?
– The American Bison is not a Buffalo, despite the common misconception, the reference to Buffalo is actually I’m referring to the Asian Water Buffalo or the Cape Buffalo
– Bison have a large hump on it’s front shoulders, which allows it to have force to plow and butt.
– Bisons horns are shorter and sharper
– you can distinguish a Bison by its beard
– Bison roam the American West and parts of Europe, Buffalos roam Asia and parts of Africa.
– Bison eat mostly grass and sedges but also will eat Berries and Lichen on occasion
– Bison weigh between 800- 1000 pounds
– Bison live on plains, prairies and river valleys
– Bison can be found at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, National Bison Range in the Flathead Valley of Montana, the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Oklahoma, the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in northern Nebraska, Sullys Hill National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern North Dakota, Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge in central Iowa and the Wood Buffalo National Park in Northwest Territory, Canada.