Check It Out: What’s Inside A Bison?

I know you've heard it;

Don't pet the fluffy cows.

Have you ever wondered what's underneath all of that fluff?

A lot of muscle, to be sure.

What about the bone structure?

Someone was clever enough to do a cutaway of a bison to show what is inside.

This is really impressive.

Back in 2022 this cutout was on display and taken on the road by the Canadian Western Agribition.

They call the bison Ernie.

"You don't tell a bison what to do," says our lecturer.

What you're looking at in this video was once a living buffalo.

After he died they rebuilt his skeleton and put his hide back on to let folks see it.

"Buffalo has very good hearing, decent eyesight, and a great sense of smell. They are smart animals."

During his talk, he shows the best spot to shoot a bison if you want to drop him quickly. It's not a spot that most hunters would expect.

Have a look at those next bones. Those are thick and heavy.

About 65% to 70% of their body weight is on their front feet.

The front legs are not attached directly to the skeleton. The back legs are.

A bison has between 218 and 248 bones.

We call them Bison, not Buffalo. Buffalo is a different beast.

WE DO NOT MILK AMERICAN BISON.

Water buffalo don’t have wool, they are not native here, and they are usually black and have skin more like an elephant.

Males or bulls can weigh up to 3,000 pounds, some have weighed more.

They can easily be 9 to 11 feet long.

They can run 35 miles an hour and jump a 5-foot fence flat-footed.

Females, or cows, are much smaller than their male counterparts. Usually weighing in at 800 to 1200lbs. Some have hit 1400lbs.

They still have horns, chaps, and capes, just not as large as the bulls. They reach a height of 4 to 5 1/2 feet at the shoulder and can be 8 feet long.