Wild Animals You May Know 



51 



had the proper facilities for handling them. When this announcement 

 was made through the press, the rangers received a flood of inquiries 

 from people interested in buffaloes. Some of them were quite humorous, 

 indicating the hazy notions that people have about the size and habits 

 of the buffalo. 



One little girl wrote from New York asking for a "cute, gentle little 

 buffalo to play with." Two boys wanted a calf apiece as pets. One 

 farmer from Nebraska wrote for some buffaloes to entertain his guests 

 on Sundays. "It's kind of quiet around here," he said. "We're great 

 hands to entertain and we'd like a couple of buffaloes." A man from 

 Georgia sent a check for shipment of three buffaloes, then wired, just 

 before they were caught, to withhold shipment. "My wife has convinced 

 me that with four children and three buffaloes, our two-acre lot would 

 be too small," he said. "She is afraid the buffaloes might hurt the chil 

 dren." Another family wanted a buffalo because their children had 

 tired of playing with their cats, dogs, and rabbits, and perhaps a buffalo 

 would interest them. 



After the buffaloes had been shipped, some unique complaints came 

 in from the new owners of the animals. Some said that the buffaloes 

 were too large; they wanted small ones. The rangers ship only the 

 young ones, as a matter of fact, because the crating and expressing of 

 a full-grown one-ton buffalo is some job in itself. The cost of catching 

 and crating a buffalo is about seventy dollars. The animals are shipped 

 by express so that they will arrive promptly and in good condition. 

 Preference is given to game preserves, forest reserves, zoos, and parks, 

 but many buffaloes have been sent to private estates and asylums. One 

 of the largest pair of buffaloes was sent to the estate of Florenz Ziegfeld 

 of the "Follies," while a herd of sixteen was shipped to the Famous 

 Players-Lasky Company for use in the movies, after which this herd 

 was to be released on Catalina Island, off the coast of California. Buf 

 faloes have been shipped to practically every 

 state in the union during the past five years. 

 Each autumn the rangers join the buffalo- 

 keepers in a great roundup, at which time the 

 animals are counted, the herd is inspected, 

 and the animals for shipment are singled out. 

 These roundups are about the last opportuni 

 ties to see in this country the fearful and im 

 pressive buffalo stampedes. 



Because of the prevalent idea that buffa 

 loes would make good pets, it was necessary 

 to get out a public warning to applicants for 

 buffaloes a few seasons ago. Some of the 



