The future of the buffalo depends upon the National herds and ranges, of which the United States has six game preserves. In zoological parks this animal becomes sluggish and rapidly deteriorates from the vigorous standard of the wild stock.
The largest buffalo ever measured by a naturalist is the old bull which was shot by Dr. Hornaday on December 6, 1886, in Montana, and which now stands as the most prominent figure in the mounted group in the United States National Museum. This is the animal whose picture adorns the ten dollar bill of the United States currency. The height of this buffalo at the shoulders was 5 feet, 8 inches, and its length of head and body to the root of the tail was 10 feet, 2 inches. Its estimated weight was 2,100 pounds.
The buffalo begins to shed its faded and weather-beaten winter coat of hair in March. For the next three months he is a forlorn looking creature. By October, however, the new coat is well along, and in November and December the animal is at its best.
Buffalo calves are born in May and June. At first they are a brick red color, but this coat is usually shed in October.
The flesh of the buffalo very closely resembles domestic beef. In fact, it is impossible to distinguish the difference.
BASED ON MATERIAL DRAWN FROM “THE AMERICAN NATURAL HISTORY,” COPYRIGHT 1904, BY WILLIAM T. HORNADAY
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 4. No. 13. SERIAL No. 113
The Mentor Association
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