Bison Wildlife Area welcomes baby heifer

The Bison Wildlife Area has a new tenant.
Rob Riggin, Wildlife and Parks public land manager, said one of two bison that were expected to be pregnant dropped a heifer calf sometime this week. While estimates aren’t exact, Riggin put the birth anywhere from late Tuesday to mid-day Thursday.
“We were thinking that it was probably going to happen soon,” Riggin said. “We were expecting both cows to be pregnant, though you can’t really tell sometimes. Now, it looks like the other one is as well.
“It’s not a game where you can really read it and time it down to the second or so.”
The Wildlife Area has had its share of false pregnancies. With how hard it is to tell, sometimes, Riggin said, workers don’t know that a bison isn’t pregnant until it’s too late. Other times, the stress of traveling to a new area can force the cows to abort.
“I think it’s great, and it shows that perseverance pays off,” said Rep. Bob Grant, D-Cherokee, who worked to get the bison to the area. “Honestly, with how many false alarms we had, I was kind of wondering if somewhere along the line they were feeding them one of those morning-after pills.”
After he heard about the calf, Grant rushed to the area to take a look.
“The little thing stays close to mom,” Grant said. “But she seems pretty content.
“The mother was looking at some of us ... out there and was daring us a bit to come in and get a closer look.”
Riggin said they don’t name the bison.
Riggin said the next step was to see what happens with the other cow that may be pregnant. If she drops a bull, Riggin said the department would have to mull over its options. The current fence wouldn’t be able to hold a bull, he said, which are much bigger and more aggressive.
A fix for that is coming though. The Kansas Legislature approved funding that will allow Wildlife and Parks to beef up the fencing, especially in some problem spots.
“We should start that sometime in July or August of ‘09,” Riggin said. “We’ve already started preparing for the new calves by cleaning up some excess trees and trying to make room for them.”
Room is another issue, though Riggin said it might not be for long. One of the cows is in her upper 20s, which Riggin said was way past life expectancy.
“If you have one in the mid 20s, that’s an old one,” Riggin said. “She’s done all right. I wouldn’t expect her to be around too much longer. She’s probably at the end of her deal.”
Riggin advised any onlookers to have patience — calves are small and when they lay down in the tall grass of the area, they can be difficult to see.
“A lot of times the cows with their calves stay off by themselves,” Riggin said. “So if you do go up to look, the chances are, if it’s off by itself, that’s where you need to look.”
Riggin said maturing into a grown adult was about a three-year process. There are two heifers in the area right now that are about two years old, and not as big as the grown cows.
A grown cow can grow to 700 or 800 pounds. A bull could weigh up to 1,500 pounds.
“We’ll have to look and see what we can do,” Riggin said. “The way it is right now, it’s not safe for a bull. But with us upgrading the pens, it may provide more choices for us. We’ll see what happens.”

Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134