“Who remembers the name of the order to which all members of the Deer family belong?” asked Old Mother Nature.
“I remember what it means, but not the name,” spoke up Happy Jack Squirrel. “It means hoofed.”
“It is Un—Un-Ungu—” began Peter Rabbit and then stopped. For the life of him he couldn't think of the rest.
“Ungulata,” Old Mother Nature finished for him. “And Happy Jack has the meaning right. It is the order to which all hoofed animals belong. There are several families in the order, one of which you already have learned about—the Deer family. Now comes the family of Cattle and Sheep. It is called the Bovidae family, and the biggest and most important member is Thunderfoot the Bison, commonly called Buffalo.
“Thunderfoot is more closely related to Bossy, Farmer Brown's Cow, than are the members of the Deer family, for he has true horns, not antlers. These are hollow and are not dropped each year, but are carried through life. Mrs. Thunderfoot has them also. The horns grow out from the sides of the forehead and then curve upward and inward, and are smooth and sharp. They are never branched.
“Thunderfoot is a great, heavy fellow the size of Farmer Brown's Ox, and has a great hump on his shoulders. He carries his head low and from his throat hangs a great beard. His head is large and is so covered with thick, curly hair that it appears much larger than it really is. His tail is rather short and ends in a tassel of hair. The hair on his body and hind quarters is short and light brown, but on his shoulders and neck and his fore legs to the knees it is long and shaggy, dark brown above and almost black below.”
“He must be a queer looking fellow,” spoke up Chatterer the Red Squirrel.
“He is,” replied Old Mother Nature. “The front half of him looks so much bigger than the rear half that it almost seems as if they didn't belong together.”
“What does he eat?” asked Jumper the Hare.
“Grass,” replied Old Mother Nature promptly. “He grazes just as does Bossy. When the weather becomes hot his thick coat, although much of it has been shed, becomes most uncomfortable. Also he is tormented by flies. Then he delights in rolling in mud until he is plastered with it from head to feet.