Second Generation of Buffalo Starts Life on NAL Range
Mom and son are doing well, thanks
(Photo by Jim Engel, Aurora Beacon News)
A new member of the NAL family was born about noon Saturday, May 29, with some fanfare and considerable excitement. One tiny buffalo was added to the Laboratory's wildlife population. As a result, NAL now has 19 head of buffalo.
Robert Hines, NAL Farm Manager, reported that a fawn colored bull calf was "delivered" in the grazing area on the Feldott farm off Batavia road. The mother is "Short Horns," a six-year old, imported to the NAL site last year from Colorado.
The newcomer's weight is 50-60 pounds. So far, it is unnamed. And, it is reported that mother and baby are doing well.
It was the first calf born in the Colorado herd since it came to NAL. The new addition brings the herd in the Feldott grazing area on the south side of Batavia road to two heifers, two cows,two bulls and the new calf ... for a total of seven buffalo.
On the north side of the road is a herd obtained from the state of Illinois. It has 12 head -- three bulls (the oldest is 7 years old), 5 cows, 1 bull calf and three heifer calves. One bull calf and three heifer calves are from the four cows; the calves were born in 1970.
The birth provided a busy Memorial Day week-end for Rudy Dorner, NAL Site Manager, and Hines. As Mrs. Jo Gustafson reported in the Aurora Beacon-News:
"It would have been quieter if the father had been clued in on what was going on. As it was, the excitement was too much for him and he stormed to a point where there was danger that the calf would be trampled to death. Extra 'delivery room' equipment meant fire trucks, hoses and squad cars to keep things orderly and cool the tempers."
"When the star of the show decided to appear the protective instinct of its mother caused pandemonium again. More trouble and more fire trucks and hoses. She was 'protecting' whether it was from men, fire hoses, squad cars or another buffalo."
There was one problem after another. Finally, the keepers managed to steer the new mother and the 30-inch-high buffalo back to the buffalo barn -- a makeshift maternity ward.
The baby buffalo thus joined 50 cows and 51 calves (one set of twins) and six horses (belonging to the NAL-associated Indian Creek Riding Club) on the 6,800-acre NAL site. The Aberdeen Angus cows belong to Larry Breon, a Batavia area farmer, who has been granted a license to graze the cattle on NAL pastures for two years.