BISON CONTINUED

Habitats and Adaptations: Bison are extremely gregarious and are usually found in herds which may be quite large. Old bulls, however are often loners and can be very bad-tempered. Most bison are usually peaceful grazers, except during mating season. However all bison are completely unpredictable and may attack anything for no apparent reason.

Bison most often travel at a walk, but they are quick to respond and can travel very fast over rough terrain for extremely long distances. Some have been clocked at 56 kph (35 mph) for .8km (half a mile).

Diet: Bison eat a variety of grasses,particularly wheat, broom, wild rye, vanilla, June, meadow, and feather grass. They also eat vetch and pea vine. They usually feed till late morning and then will lie and chew cud during the hot afternoon hours. They may also visit the nearest water hole or a nearby wallow. They wallow or roll in the dust or mud to scratch and to cover themselves with dust or mud serving as protection against biting insects.

Breeding and Maturation: The rutting season takes place in August and September. Although some bulls are capable of mating at one year, most reach sexual maturity at age three. In order to mate however, a bull must fight to achieve dominance, and most dominant bulls are four to eight years old. Most cows begin breeding after their third year and bear a calf each year. Gestation is similar to humans - nine and a half months, and calving occurs mostly in late April and May.

Miscellaneous: Before Europeans arrived in North America, bison formed what were probably the largest aggregations of large land animals on earth. Thirty million may be the most accurate estimate. The animals ranged in huge herds over most of the continent, mostly on the plains, but herds occurred as far east as New York and New England and as far south as Georgia.