Nasty Buffalo

It's no secret I'm a NatGeo kinda girl with dreams of traveling to Africa and the Galapagos and other wild places.  Watching NatGeo, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel I think I have seen about every type and topic of animal documentary. 

I’ve often thought of my dream trips to faraway places.  The fortunate thing about going on a couch safari is the ability to change channels when real life begins, or ends I should say.

I understand the harshness of life on the plains.  However, unless it’s a “fast” kill as the narrators describe, I can’t watch.  Predators must eat as well as the grazers but I prefer to only watch the chase, not the finish line. 

The Yellowstone documentary, or maybe it was the moose documentary, showed a young mother moose with her new calf.  They were near a river or lake.  A buffalo is in the background.  Now granted, I’ve never been a buffalo fan.  They are about on the same level as monkeys in my thoughts so I might be a little judgmental of this buffalo.  When I was showing my mare, Saya, in cow horse I would haul her to a cutting trainer’s place.  Brandon Sutton.  Brandon would give me cutting lessons on his buffalo.  This experience led me to dislike buffalo even more.  Saya was not far behind in my thoughts.  Tough as nails they could run for what seemed an endless amount of time. 

The moose and her calf were minding their own business when the buffalo decides to interrupt their day.  The baby moose has no idea about danger at this point in it’s young life.  But momma moose does.  She tries to lead her calf to safety but the buffalo butts the calf, again and again.  Momma moose runs back and forth trying to lead the buffalo away.  Finally the buffalo gores the baby calf into the ground.  The calf is not moving anymore and the buffalo leaves, looking very satisfied with itself. 

Momma moose runs to her calf and for a moment life seems hopeless.  But in a minute the little calf is up and wobbling after it’s momma into the woods.  Somehow I don’t think the baby survived the night.  We, the watchers, never know.  The documentary goes to another subject.  Perhaps to wolves of which I won’t watch hunt.

I hated that buffalo in an almost comical way, like somehow that buffalo was a big bully on the playground planning an attack.  Buffalos aren’t predators.  They are not carnivores, they are grazers, herbivores.  Somehow the scene just struck me as a move against nature, the natural order of things.  Buffalos and moose are not supposed to be locked in a battle for survival against one another.

I can barely kill a spider and to hit an animal accidently while driving is very upsetting.  However, I think had I been in the wild when that buffalo picked on the calf I’d have shot it.  People are supposed to be observers when in amongst animals in these situations, never interfering with “life”.  But that moment didn’t seem like life.  It seemed sinister.  Evil.  Nasty buffalo.  I’m not a hunter but have family members who are and that is okay either way to me.  In that split second I could have been a hunter.  I’d have my revenge.  Revenge that I’ve wrote about in another note, on another day.

Hmmm….the nasty buffalo, the momma moose, the calf, the narrator, the observer….if I look close enough I can see a similarities………

My Uncle Clarence Maynard