Well, actually, they are called American Bison, and not Buffalo. We have lived in Alamosa for 23 years and there are still things around here that I don't know about. Case in point...the Medano-Zapata Ranch. So, I have heard of the Ranch and have seen the Ranch house as we drove by it on our way to the Sand Dunes. And, I do recall seeing something about it on the new maps when the Sand Dunes transfromed from a National Monument to a National Park. I just didn't know how big it was, or about the bison.
The kids in church have been learning about the animals of the Bible and I guess bison came up in their conversation. It turns out that the mom of one of the kids works at the Ranch so she arranged for a "field trip". Jamie was excited to go because it meant that he'd get to miss church. I decided to go so that I could learn more about the Ranch and take my camera out for some photos.
It was a perfect spring day, with just a slight breeze (those who know the San Luis Valley know that the spring winds can be horrendous!). We rode out into the field in a wagon, pulled by a Suburban. Once we were close to the bison, we went in separate loads in the Suburban to get up close and personal to these incredible animals.
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| our church group |
After we had seen the bison, we were taken to the bison barn. This is where, once a year, they do a bison round up. They count the bison, vaccinate them, separate some for sale and then put them back out to pasture.
We all had a great time! There is more info about the Medano-Zapata Ranch here. We were fortunate to have this outing arranged by one of our kids mom because they normally charge $50 per person to do this tour! Yikes!
