Jennifer Bove - Ranger Rick: I Wish I Was a Bison

What if you wished you were a bison?
Then you became a bison calf.
Could you eat like a bison?
Bathe like a bison?
Live in a bison family?
And would you want to? Find out!

Where would you live?
Most bison live on prairies
in North America.
Prairies have grasses and flowers,
but not many trees.

Summers are hot and dry.
Winters are cold and snowy.
Bison do not stay in just one spot.
They roam all around the prairie.

What would your family be like?
Adult female bison are called cows.
Young bison are called calves.
Cows and calves live together
in groups called herds.

Adult male bison are called bulls.
Bulls live together in separate herds.

A bison mom has a calf each spring.
Calves can stand up and walk
just a few minutes after being born!
A bison calf stays near its mom
for almost a year.
It drinks her milk and cuddles
against her thick fur.

How old were
you when you
started walking?

How would you talk?
Bison talk with grunts and snorts.
They also talk with their tails.

What do you do when you
are angry or scared?

A bison wags its tail when its calm.
When a bison is angry or scared,
its tail stands up straight.

When a bison is upset,
it lowers its head and charges.
It will smash its head
into anything that bothers it.

Bison bulls will also crash
their heads together
to show who is the strongest.

How would you learn to be a bison?
Bison calves learn by playing.
They push their heads together
and charge each other for fun.

Bison calves love to run.
Running helps them grow
strong and fast.

What do you learn
from playing?

Bison calves must be fast
to keep up with their herd.
A herd will run suddenly
to escape from wolves or bears.
This is called stampeding.

What would you eat?
Bison eat grass
lots and lots of grass!
This is called grazing.
It is easy to graze in the summer.

In winter, bison must find grass
under deep snow.
They sweep their heads
from side to side
to move the snow off the grass.

Would you like to eat the
same food every day?

How would you wash up?
Bison dont use soap and water
to get clean.
They take dust baths.
Rolling in the dirt helps bison
get rid of bugs and shed itchy fur.
This is called wallowing.

Would you rather take a
bath or wallow in the dirt?

How would growing up change you?
A bison calf is born with red fur.
Within a few months,
its fur begins to grow darker.

A calf will also start to grow horns
and a hump on its shoulders.
Male bison have bigger horns
and shoulder humps than females.

After about three years,
a male calf leaves his moms herd
to join a herd of bulls.

A female bison stays
with her mothers herd
for her whole life.
At about three years old,
she is ready to have a calf
of her own.