This past Saturday, August 12th, I got up to go out and feed hay to the cattle.  I looked out into the pasture and thought I saw a buffalo (yes Lori Ellis a buffalo, not a moose).  I did a double take and rubbed my eyes and now thought I was seeing double - two buffalo.  Well, long story short, there were two buffalo, named Ruff and Ready, that escaped from another ranch about 2 miles away.  They found their way into our open gate.

 

We closed the gate to contain them and with help from the Hopkins County Sheriff's Department, located the owner.  One of the owner's ranch hands came over and he, Julie and I tried to pen them into a smaller fenced area.  They would have nothing to do with it and at one point I found myself right in their path, as they stampeded back to the gate they knew they had come in through.  The larger one of the two (check the pictures) is about 6'2" tall at the hump.

 

Later in the day Julie and her Mom got them penned when they eventually entered the smaller area to get water.  The other ranch hands came over to try to send them up the chute and trailer them, but, again, they would have nothing to do with it.  They broke the top rails to two different gates and busted the links of a heavy chain as if it were plastic.

 

On Sunday, the Sheriff's Department closed off the road as the buffalo owner's ranch hand and I used our trucks to herd them through our property and out the gate.  They knew where they came from and ran down the county roadway straight to their home.  These two bulls were so heavy they were kicking up divots of asphalt as they ran. 

 

What a beautiful pair.