The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-03-29

at dawn and commence to Craze. When
filled they start for the trail, led usually
by an old COW, who gives the signal for
starting by sounding a grunt not unlike
that of hog, only much louder. The re-
mainder Of the herd drop in behind, fol-
lowing exactly in her footprints until
they reach the path which leads them to
their drinking place This path never ex-
cecds Il inches in width 1t is the same
path along which the ancestors of these
buffalo have Travelled for countless ages.
when the pool lake or stream is
reached, the buffalo step in, fill themselves
and Immediately return to the banks in
stead of lingering in the water and pollut-
ing it, as domestic cattle do. Thus, by
keeping to one track, they have saved the
grass over which the cattle straggle to
water, and they have kept the water pure
and fresh. After resting an hour or so
they wend their way over a well defined
trail, for miles and miles, without cutting
a blade of the grass which is so necessary
for their subsistence If the man who
causes two blades of grass to grow where
only one has grown is a benefactor of the
sace, how much more is the buffalo a
benefactor, who preserves thousands OF
blades that other animals ruthlessly des
troy
"The buffalo never yields to disease
He is clean in his domestic habits and in
consequence always drinks pure water
/ eats Clean fresh grass, does not besneal
| himself with filth and consequently never
suffers from any of the skin diseases
common to domestic or range cattle His
| thick underfur and the 'pantaiets' which
cover his legs make him unaware of the
| existence of flies in summer and allow
! him to fattcn where domestic cattle grow
thin and die on account of these pests
| When winter comes he adds an add
tional robe of fur to his robe of fat, anC
turning his head to the storm eats quietly
along to the front i'll the face of the
| fiercest Billiards that ever blew
There are many small traits of The
buffalo that are lacking in cattle The
buffalo COW never allows her calf to b
destroyed by the coyote. The buffalo
never miro in swamps or pools as 81
many cattle do When they find that the!
are becoming stuck they throw themselve
on their sides and swim or paddle through
the mud as would hog. In spring tim'
they curry themselves by rolling in wal
/ lONo, liI@ht III lil1 tdiu VI CidJ, lHuS lt
moving their winter coats and loosenin,
up their skins, SO as TO take on flesh
They always lie with their backs up a hill
so as to rise early and always have guard
out day and night to warn the herd o
approaching danger They always face
storm, and never drift, as do cattle
They lie down with their heads to tn
fiercest storm, throwing their head
around on their sides and sleeping con
tentedly, while the great mass of fur o.
their high humps shields the more expose
parts of their bodies from the winds
"A strange thing about buffalo is tina
the younger females always follow the oil
grandmothers." said Jones They seem {
propagate in families, and the families ca
be distinguished by peculiar facial resen
J blances No person ever' saw herd 9
: buffalo move in a straight line They a
: ways take a zig-zag course. My ely
: PLANTATION is this: A buffalo is yer
cautious animal Their shaggy forehead
prevent their seeing objects on either sid
OF them To prevent a surprise from a
enemy they walk obliquely to the right
and then to the left, and in that way &c
! an unobstrueted view of the surroundin
e country. kansas City Star.