Tatanka Wicasa

Only recently did I learn of the 2004 death of Dale Lott (photo inset), author of American Bison: A Natural History. The book has been called by the Library Journal "the most extensive description of bison natural history ever published." Lott, a professor emeritus of wildlife biology at the University of California, was always quick to answer my e-mail inquiries about buffaloes. He literally grew up with bison, his grandfather having been manager of the National Bison Range in Montana, where his father was also employed. Lott studied the behavior of many animals, but the buffalo was his true calling. In American Bison, Lott mixes the science of buffalo behavior, historical accounts, and an entertaining writing style. One of my favorite passages in the book:

"I'm watching a mature bull standing alone on a dirt road on the National Bison Range. He's the only buffalo around, and I have set up my movie camera, so I'm watching him through the viewfinder, finger on the shutter button. He stands broadside to the road's line of travel, his front feet at the bottom of the cutbank where the road is in a trough cut through a low hill to ease the grade. His right horn slips into the cutbank and cuts a horizontal groove. He glances up to the top of the cutbank, six feet above the road, cuts another groove with his left horn, glances up again, then--without seeming to gather himself--leaps to the top of the cutbank, lands upright on all four feet, and calmly surveys his new view. My finger is still on the shutter button, and I still haven't pressed it. I've just seen 2,ooo pounds of buffalo do a standing high jump of six feet. My breath is quick and a little shaky, but the bull is perfectly calm. After standing for a minute he plods off. No high fives, but his patient, confident amble seemed an understated celebration of its own--'Not bad for a big bull with a skinny butt, eh?' "

With this account of a buffalo high jump, I've included a photo of escaped buffalo in Maryland that made the news last year when they were finally rounded up on a tennis court. Another track and field event--hurdles.

I borrow a term from the Sioux Indians, Tatanka Wicasa, which means buffalo man. A fitting title for Dale Lott.