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Behind the old United States nickel, there is a picture of an animal that looks odd. Except for zoos and circuses, it is an animal that most people have never seen. It is usually called buffalo, but it is not its actual name. It is a bison. The animals that are properly called buffalo, live only in Asia and Africa. (You can read about BUFFALO in another article.) Since American bison belongs to the same family as Buffalo, early American settlers called it by the same name.

Even today, people call bison a buffalo. Millions of bison roamed North America long before white men came. They grazed fields and meadows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains, and from Canada to Mexico. But today, you can travel throughout the United States without having to meet a single bison. Still, if you know where to look, there are still some flocks in certain places. The bison’s biggest features are its size, large back bumps, long hairy mane and beard. The thick hair covers the head, neck and front legs almost completely.

The overgrown bison weighs about 2,000 pounds, and its large head hangs low and touches the ground as if it were too heavy to hold up. The bison has curved horns and short tails, which end with a wool tassel and are a very good guide to the bison’s feelings. When the bison is contented, the tail sags, but when excited or angry, the tail rises, much like a cat’s tail.

Bisons are huge and powerful animals, but are usually mild and very timid. Bisons will not attack other creatures if they can avoid them. Fight only when cornered. It is not very clever and is easily trapped and killed. The Indians knew this, and for many years, bison meat was the chief food of the Indians on the plains.

In the days when bison roamed over the country, they moved in great herds. As winter came and snow covered the northern plains, they moved hundreds of miles south in search of grass in warm lands. Early settlers often saw thousands of people moving across the plains. But as the whites went further west for land, they hunted bison for its meat and hide.

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