Yellowstone Bison

A Few Interesting Facts About The Yellowstone Bison

The amazing thing about Yellowstone bison is that these creatures that have existed from prehistoric times are still living and are easy to see roaming about in Yellowstone National Park. They are creatures that are the love of conservationists and the treasure of the Native American Indian.

Bison is known for being large and is characteristically bulky in body and has a largish head with horns that curve out. A typical Bison may weigh a couple of thousand pounds and may stand as high as six feet tall.

The interesting thing about Yellowstone bison is that there are herds of these animals that can be seen roaming freely in the area and the reason for their survival is the strong efforts made by the US to preserve this breed of which there are between one and three thousand bison in Yellowstone at any given time, depending a lot on how many animals the state of Montana culls for the year.

In the main, these huge mammals are vegetarian and they survive by eating the ample amount of grass that covers the valleys and meadow and other parts of Yellowstone. They share a number of common characteristics with domesticated cattle and also with sheep. However, the male and female bison both have a pair of horns that are mostly curved in shape.

Another amazing trait about these rather huge creatures is that notwithstanding their bulkiness, bison or buffalo by the locals - can be very mobile and can run very fast and they are also pretty agile as well. It is not unknown for these creatures to sprint as far as a car that may be travelling at slow cruising speed and these animals are also able to leap quite high in the air with reports of a bison jumper a 6 foot fence.

They also shed their coats during the summer months, which they can speed up by rubbing their bodies against trees and even against big sized stones. And, by the time spring arrives, their bodies will be shorn of all the thick winter hair except on their head and hump and even their forelegs.