The Extermination of the American BisonHornaday, William T. (William Temple)
History
The Extermination of the American Bison
Hornaday, William T. (William Temple)
American bison; Wildlife conservation -- United States -- Sources
4. _The Calf._--The breeding season of the buffalo is from the 1st of
July to the 1st of October. The young cow does not breed until she is
three years old, and although two calves are sometimes produced at a
birth, one is the usual number. The calves are born in April, May, and
June, and sometimes, though rarely, as late as the middle of August. The
calf follows its mother until it is a year old, or even older. In May,
1886, the Smithsonian expedition captured a calf alive, which had been
abandoned by its mother because it could not keep up with her. The
little creature was apparently between two and three weeks old, and was
therefore born about May 1. Unlike the young of nearly all other
_Bovidæ_, the buffalo calf during the first months of its existence is
clad with hair of a totally different color from that which covers him
during the remainder of his life. His pelage is a luxuriant growth of
rather long, wavy hair, of a uniform brownish-yellow or "sandy" color
(cinnamon, or yellow ocher, with a shade of Indian yellow) all over the
head, body, and tail, in striking contrast with the darker colors of the
older animals. On the lower half of the leg it is lighter, shorter, and
straight. On the shoulders and hump the hair is longer than on the
other portions, being 11/2 inches in length, more wavy, and already
arranges itself in the tufts, or small bunches, so characteristic in the
adult animal.
On the extremity of the muzzle, including the chin, the hair is very
short, straight, and as light in color as the lower portions of the leg.
Starting on the top of the nose, an inch behind the nostrils, and
forming a division between the light yellowish muzzle and the more
reddish hair on the remainder of the head, there is an irregular band of
dark, straight hair, which extends down past the corner of the mouth to
a point just back of the chin, where it unites. From the chin backward
the dark band increases in breadth and intensity, and continues back
half way to the angle of the jaw. At that point begins a sort of under
mane of wavy, dark-brown hair, nearly 3 inches long, and extends back
along the median line of the throat to a point between the fore legs,
where it abruptly terminates. From the back of the head another streak
of dark hair extends backward along the top of the neck, over the hump,
and down to the lumbar region, where it fades out entirely. These two
dark bands are in sharp contrast to the light sandy hair adjoining.
The tail is densely haired. The tuft on the end is quite luxuriant, and
shows a center of darker hair. The hair on the inside of the ear is
dark, but that on the outside is sandy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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