The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-12-25
THE BUfFALO'S MUD BATH.
The Ring.Shaped Wailow No Longer q
Familiar Sight on the Prairie.

A buffalo wallow. once one of the
most familiar objects on the prairies is
a circular depression. having dia-
meter of from six to thirteen feet-the
average, perhaps. about twelve feet
In approaching large herd during the
Summer tie first indication of the
presence of the huge animals was an
immense cloud of dust rising high in
the air. for the buffalo. rs do many of
the wild beasts. loves To reyel in the
fine sand or dirt which he furnishes by
digging it up with his horns. Like a
bull in his wailow,h was once a fire.
quent saving on the plains, and it had
Il very significant meaning with those
who had ever Witnessed buffalo bull
endeavoring to cool himself off in
wallow.
Many years ago. in the early days of
travel on the great plains, the travel
lers believed these curious rings tc
have been made bv the Indians in their
dances, but the idea prevailed for
short time. The buffalo, whose hair is
remarkable for its intense shagginesS
and thickness, must necessarily suffer
severely from the heat. and then he
will seek the lowest ground on the
prairie, where there has been a little
stagnant water left. if he can find it; of
course the ground being soft under the
short grass. it is an easy matter for
him to make a mud puddle of the spot
in very short time. He accomplishes
this by getting down on one knee.
plunging his short horns, and ut last
his head, into the earth. and he soon
makes an excavation into which the
water SLOWLY filters This makes re-
latively cool bath, where, throwing him.
self on his side as fiat as he can, lie
rolls forciblyaround and with his horns
and hump, he rips UP the ground 10y
his rotary motion, sinking deeper ard
deeper. continually making the wallow
larger. which fills with water, in which
al length he becomes completely i'm
mersed, the water and mud. mixed to
the consistency of mortar. covering him
perfectly. changing his color and gen
eral appearance. When he rose the
mud drippcd in great streams from
every part Of his hinge body. horrible
looking monster of mud and uglincss.
too terrible 10 be accurately described.
1t was generally the leader OF the herd
who took upon himself the business of
making the WalloW, or if he found
another had commenced the eXcava-
ton. he would drive him away and
wallow until he was satisfied, standing
in Il mass of mud and water in the hole
until he got ready to give the others a
chance. 1t was always the next in
command who stood ready; and when
he came out, the next, who advanced
in his turn, and so on according to
rank until all had performed their
abiutions. Frequently hundred or
more. would patiently wait their turn,
each one making the wallow little
larger.
1t required about half an hour to
make decent wallow, and the depth
was about two feet. The water natur-
ally drains into these holes, together
with its accompanying vegetable de-
post, and the result is Il remarkably
rich soil, where the grass and weeds
grow with luXuriance SO marked
that Il buffalo wallow can be distin-
gushed long before ii is reached. The
prairieS are covered with them all over
the central and western portion of
Kansas, where the plough has not yet
disturbed the primitive sod. The first
thing Kansas farmer does after
rain is to examine the buffalo walows;
if they are filled with water the rain
has been a good one. and the saying
common in that region, both by tie
individual and the newspapers, is,
when speaking or writing of a soaking
rain. The buffalo wallow5 are fall"
When the weather was dry The buffalo
had to content himself with the COM
minuted dust he could make in tho
hole and, rs the weather was gencr-
ally dry, the whereabouts of IL herd
could usually he located by the cloud
of dust rising above it.-KasSGS city