Big Bone Bison
We visited Big Bone Lick State Park on a warm Sunday afternoon, and the bison were out feeding in the prairie.
Bison are herbivores that graze on grasses and sedges in open fields.
The bison’s daily schedule involves two-hour periods of grazing, resting and cud chewing. Cud is the food that is upchucked from a bison’s stomach into its mouth to be chewed for a second time to aid digestion.
Bison will then move to a new location to begin grazing again.
My friend in high school owned a farm that had a few buffalo. We used to feed them corn stalks through the fence. It took all my strength to hold the stalk while the bison chewed off the other end. My friend used to say, “If he pulls the stalk through the fence, be sure to let go, because the bison doesn’t know where the stalk ends and your arms begin.”
Just to note, Big Bone Lick State Park prohibits feeding the bison for the protection of both you and the bison.
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