Country Booffalo, Beefalo, errr..Bison and such (NA)

mikea

mikea

Touchdown! Greaser!
Gone West
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iWin
One of the booths at our weekly Farmers Market this year is a Bison rancher from Wisconsin, in the space that was formerly held by the local(!) cattle ranch.

I bought only two things to start. Bison "bacon" and a couple of shank bones for Pancho.

The "bacon," whatever it really is, is lean and pretty good.

I asked the guy how sturdy the bones are since Pancho has shattered beef bones I've bought. She's in week two and still happily gnawing on it and it's holding up fine.

I think I'm gonna be more adventurous next week and try some steaks.

There is another booth with produce "grown right here in town." I didn't get anything on my first trip, but I will.

I'm getting to enjoy this country living.

(I just had to tell the neighbor kid who runs from spiders and spider webs that we live in the country. :D

BTW, We have a den with a family of coyotes on the next lot. We've been discussing whether to be worried about our pets. I've noticed that I'm seeing a whole lot fewer squirrels, birds, and rodents around. )
 
mikea said:
One of the booths at our weekly Farmers Market this year is a Bison rancher from Wisconsin, in the space that was formerly held by the local(!) cattle ranch.

I bought only two things to start. Bison "bacon" and a couple of shank bones for Pancho.

The "bacon," whatever it really is, is lean and pretty good.

I asked the guy how sturdy the bones are since Pancho has shattered beef bones I've bought. She's in week two and still happily gnawing on it and it's holding up fine.

I think I'm gonna be more adventurous next week and try some steaks.

There is another booth with produce "grown right here in town." I didn't get anything on my first trip, but I will.

I'm getting to enjoy this country living.

(I just had to tell the neighbor kid who runs from spiders and spider webs that we live in the country. :D

BTW, We have a den with a family of coyotes on the next lot. We've been discussing whether to be worried about our pets. I've noticed that I'm seeing a whole lot fewer squirrels, birds, and rodents around. )
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I kind of like bison. And just send a couple of those coyotes down here. You saw what the rabbits did to Leslie's garden, and they're still at it!
 
rodmadsen said:
Worry about your pets.

rod
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:rolleyes:

The guy across the street, where we spotted what must have been the male coyote a few nights back, has 2 pit bulls and is feeding what's left of some stray cats living in garage behind his property. When I told him he started shining a light into his yard and spotted some eyes one one night and last night a small one - maybe the female - INSIDE his yard (eating the cat food.) He's enjoying them because she thinks the pit bulls aren't threatened.

With my bulldog, I'm thinking it might be a tie, but more likely they wouldn't attack.

With the other neighbor's tiny terriers and any cats,... they're lunch.

The village and the county game warden say they won't do anything. The advice is keep dogs on a leash. We could hire a professional to trap them. Thanks.

We're going to find out what the critter getters charge. Then what we can do when it's not our property that they're on.
 
I haven't bought beef in over 5 years. A friend from high school raises buffalo and I buy a whole animal from him each year - well, just a half the last year or two since we're down to just one teenage boy in the house. Supplement the freezer with elk, deer and turkey and we're happy campers here! i love it.
 
kevin47881 said:
You live in the country...just cap the coyotes. I do that regularly here.
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Well, it's incorporated in a village and a county who both say they won't do a thing and I can't either, except hire a trapper. I've had a couple of offers to deal with 'em by various means and I could get creative myself, but it's evidently illegal, and now I'm the one that asked about it....
 
mikea said:
Well, it's incorporated in a village and a county who both say they won't do a thing and I can't either, except hire a trapper. I've had a couple of offers to deal with 'em by various means and I could get creative myself, but it's evidently illegal, and now I'm the one that asked about it....
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Just hire me to take care of your problem. I can guarantee a coyote free zone in a couple of nights.:yes:
 
Nature abhors a vaccuum. Get rid of one family of coyotes and another family will move in soon enough. I've spent the last 15 years getting rid of racoons and possums and every year I get rid of just as many as the year before. Sometimes I get almost a week before the next critter moves in. You would have to make the area a less desirable living quarters. For me that would to stop feeding my cats in the barn. I don't know how you get rid of a coyotes food supply.

I'm a slow learner. I'm still trying to get rid of my pesty critters. :rolleyes:

Barb
 
One Short said:
Nature abhors a vaccuum. Get rid of one family of coyotes and another family will move in soon enough. I've spent the last 15 years getting rid of racoons and possums and every year I get rid of just as many as the year before.
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Exactly. When I moved out here I went into combat mode against the ground squirrels that lived in my septic field, the skunks or whatever that tunneled under the patio slab, the woodpeckers who live in my wall, etc. It was all a losing cause. They won. Now I live and let live. I have coyotes and foxes out here too. Do watch your animals if they are any smaller than a coyote...
 
One Short said:
Nature abhors a vaccuum. Get rid of one family of coyotes and another family will move in soon enough. I've spent the last 15 years getting rid of racoons and possums and every year I get rid of just as many as the year before. Sometimes I get almost a week before the next critter moves in. You would have to make the area a less desirable living quarters. For me that would to stop feeding my cats in the barn. I don't know how you get rid of a coyotes food supply.

I'm a slow learner. I'm still trying to get rid of my pesty critters. :rolleyes:

Barb
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Yeah, but the stories about your efforts are priceless!:yes:
 
I'd worry if your pets are smaller than the coyote. Living on a farm has always allowed me option #.223 as a means of discouraging large varmints. For ground squirrels & gophers, I hire a guy to bring out his rodenator.

Bruce
 
Living on a farm has always allowed me option #.223
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LOL. I like that option. Can't do it in the Burbs though. My heighborhood in Colorado was a cat free zone due to the Coyotes. I told our new neighbors who had a cat to be careful and keep it inside, especially at night. They didn't listen and fluffy was history within a week. They put signs up on the mailboxes, adn I just had to shake my head. Fluffy wasn't lost, Fluffy was breakfast.
 
There's a neighborhood near me that has an urban coyote problem. They've figured out how to live by waiting for folks to let their dogs out in the backyard. I haven't heard how their trapping program has been coming along.

Why did the coyote cross the road? To eat your cat.
 
When they confine themselves to the ranks of the smaller varmints, I leave 'em alone. The high-velocity penetrating projectiles get involved when they attempt a night time raid on my livestock.

Actually, the coyotes are pretty smart and if given the opportunity (better hunting elsewhere) tend to leave humans and their associated critters alone. It's feral dogs and dog/coyote crosses that are the most trouble since they don't fear humans

Bruce
 
When I was based at KPXE in central Ga, there was a coyote that took up residence at the approach end of runway 18. People would him (or her) and land long, or whatever and then report it to the guys in the FBO. They would grab the gun and ride out there in a pickup or the golf cart and the coyote would skeedaddle right then. I taxied down there in the plane once and it just stood there staring at me. I was a little concerned about a possible prop encounter as it clearly was not the least bit afraid of an airplane. A few days later someone else reported the coyote again and the mechanic grabbed his rifle and taxied down in his Citabria, and while the coyote stared at him..... well that was the end for the coyote.
I think he was going to put a little Wiley Coyote sticker by the cockpit.:)
 
I called the critter-getter the neighbor used but I haven't heard from him yet.

I figure we can probably spot the den by looking for all of the empty shipping boxes from Acme.
 
Matthew said:
Why did the coyote cross the road? To eat your cat.
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That is so true. Watch out for the birds in mountain country. Small poodles and other assorted little dogs don't have a chance against the big birds. Then if the dog is big enough to avoid the birds, the big cats can get them.


Buffalo burger. Good stuff. The plan in my kitchen is to eventually eliminate cow from the menu.
 
Back to beef bones... Mike, can Pancho shatter a regular beef shank (section of upper leg bone)? that would be impressive if it was raw... I often get raw shank bones for Peg- I blanch 'em to de-greasify them a little, and although she'll strip any meat off in about 10 seconds and somehow get all the marrow out in about 12 hours, it takes her weeks to do any real damage to the bone, and she's never done more than crack a piece off the end.

Supposedly, Rotts can apply over 350 psi with their bite, but maybe they should've included a bulldog in this test :D :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7jhrxy0HKs
 
rottydaddy said:
Back to beef bones... Mike, can Pancho shatter a regular beef shank (section of upper leg bone)? that would be impressive if it was raw... I often get raw shank bones for Peg- I blanch 'em to de-greasify them a little, and although she'll strip any meat off in about 10 seconds and somehow get all the marrow out in about 12 hours, it takes her weeks to do any real damage to the bone, and she's never done more than crack a piece off the end.

Supposedly, Rotts can apply over 350 psi with their bite, but maybe they should've included a bulldog in this test :D :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7jhrxy0HKs
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The one I gave her was one in a from the rack at a big box pet store that's stuffed with various things, in this case I didn't notice, but it has some kind of salmon flavored thing inside. AFAIK, it was a piece of a cattle leg.

It was a bad thing 'cause besides her being able to split it open in an hour or so, she made a snapping movment at me when she was digging for it and I went to grab it. I swore she'd never get another one but that was in our early days and we've come to an understanding since. She has mellowed out a bit from the boarding house personality she had when I got her.

The bison bone is still whole and she's still enjoying it. The rancher told me to fill it with peanut butter someday. I'll boil it with her Nylabone to sterilize both and flavor the Nylabone.
 
The good news on the coyote front? I just spotted a squirrel. At least one is still alive.

Don't see many birds or other critters anymore, though.

One difference is that I have 2 less trees out front now.
 
Anthony said:
LOL. I like that option. Can't do it in the Burbs though. My heighborhood in Colorado was a cat free zone due to the Coyotes. I told our new neighbors who had a cat to be careful and keep it inside, especially at night. They didn't listen and fluffy was history within a week. They put signs up on the mailboxes, adn I just had to shake my head. Fluffy wasn't lost, Fluffy was breakfast.
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"If they want to live out here and leave everybody else alone, more power to 'em. But they're not going to come over here and start killing all the stuff that we like. Somebody's going to have to pay."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/bizarre/article642244.ece
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Update: The new Mom on the block who has lived here for about 10 days took my request and added the coyote family to her complaints. As I expected, the village said they'd write a ticket to check it out. To me they said I need to get off of their phone. :dunno: Guess which one of us has called more often?
 
Keith Lane said:
When I was based at KPXE in central Ga, there was a coyote that took up residence at the approach end of runway 18. People would him (or her) and land long, or whatever and then report it to the guys in the FBO. They would grab the gun and ride out there in a pickup or the golf cart and the coyote would skeedaddle right then. I taxied down there in the plane once and it just stood there staring at me. I was a little concerned about a possible prop encounter as it clearly was not the least bit afraid of an airplane. A few days later someone else reported the coyote again and the mechanic grabbed his rifle and taxied down in his Citabria, and while the coyote stared at him..... well that was the end for the coyote.
I think he was going to put a little Wiley Coyote sticker by the cockpit.:)
Click to expand...
At Danbury, CT (DXR) we were plagued with herds of Canada Geese that stayed on the airport instead of migrating. They had no fear of airplanes until you got near enough and then they would be as likely to fly toward you as away. Cars would be sent out to move them when they took over a taxiway or runway, but that only lasted a little while before they wandered back again.

Then a coyote moved on to the airport with her pup. The coyotes were smart enough to stay clear of the pavement and they cleaned out the geese efficiently.
 
This morning I heard some weird squeaking/bleating noises and the sound of hoofbeats. I looked out the window and there were two fawns, still with spots, running through the sprinkler I had going. I guess they wanted to cool off too. I've seen mom around for the past day or two but I didn't know she has kids. Mom is really a dumb deer. When I show up she'll start to run away but if I start talking to her she'll stop and listen.

One good thing though, the woodpecker family has moved out. Maybe I can get my contractor to repair the holes. Such is life in the little house on the prairie.
 
More country phenomena:

I have corn spontaneously growing in several places in my yards. I'm nourishing the one out front to see if I can get some to harvest.

The best guess is some of the corncobs that some neighbor feeds the squirrels took root. B)
 
mikea said:
More country phenomena:

I have corn spontaneously growing in several places in my yards. I'm nourishing the one out front to see if I can get some to harvest.

The best guess is some of the corncobs that some neighbor feeds the squirrels took root. B)
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Very likely.
 
If I recall what Leslie said about corn when we grew it, you have to have more than one plant to get anything to harvest due to their reproductive techniques. I'll let her (or one of the farm-folk around here) correct me if I'm wrong.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/corn1.htm said:
Although corn requires much water, avoid getting water on the tassels. The pollen from the tassels must fall onto the corn silk to produce kernels, and if pollination does not occur, all that will grow is the cob.
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gprellwitz said:
If I recall what Leslie said about corn when we grew it, you have to have more than one plant to get anything to harvest due to their reproductive techniques. I'll let her (or one of the farm-folk around here) correct me if I'm wrong.
Originally Posted by http://home.howstuffworks.com/corn1.htm
Although corn requires much water, avoid getting water on the tassels. The pollen from the tassels must fall onto the corn silk to produce kernels, and if pollination does not occur, all that will grow is the cob.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Grant! Holy cow this is a family board. Did we need to read about corn-sex??

You should warn people if you are gonna do that!!!


:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
 
mikea said:
More country phenomena:

I have corn spontaneously growing in several places in my yards. I'm nourishing the one out front to see if I can get some to harvest.

The best guess is some of the corncobs that some neighbor feeds the squirrels took root. B)
Click to expand...

gprellwitz said:
If I recall what Leslie said about corn when we grew it, you have to have more than one plant to get anything to harvest due to their reproductive techniques. I'll let her (or one of the farm-folk around here) correct me if I'm wrong.
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Grant, I dunno how to tell ya this...my front door corn stalk is "with child" - two ears are growing. Must be a slut/jigalo. :D

In spite of having lotsa corn fields around I had no idea where the ears grew from. :dunno:

I post a picture anon.

The neighbor gardener's theory is some local bees pollinated it.
 
mikea said:
Grant, I dunno how to tell ya this...my front door corn stalk is "with child" - two ears are growing. Must be a slut/jigalo. :D

In spite of having lotsa corn fields around I had no idea where the ears grew from. :dunno:

I post a picture anon.

The neighbor gardener's theory is some local bees pollinated it.
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MIKE!

Does it have a wide stance? :D
 
Bison is good lean meat, almost as good as kangaroo. I wish I could find somewhere here that sold 'roo tenderloins. If anyone sees anything marketed as Austral Meat (That's what they decided to market it under internationally for some unknown reason..) or Kangaroo, let me know.
 
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