Nothing quite like wrangling to make a man feel like part of the old west. Visions of The Duke, Capt. Call and Gus, or Charlie Postalwaite danced through my head today as I got more confident at the craft. The only catch was I was wrangling Buffalo and I was in the saddle of my 350 super duty ALS Ambulance. The Buffalo are starting the rut and that means love is in the air. I don’t mean just love I mean BIG LOVE. The big bulls wait patiently for the females to decide when the time is right and then it’s Whoopie time. Sounds like us, right? I didn’t think so. During this time everyone leaves their Buffalo brains at home. Sounds like us? I thought so. Bulls are fighting and females are running and getting chased. Now this has gone on forever but not with cars and roads as the playground. Buffalo in the road just hanging out seems to cause a worse traffic jam than a four car pile up on the Katy Freeway. Miles of cars in both directions. It has become the rangers job to move the beasts off the road by whatever means is appropriate. Short of murdering them. My chosen technique is a high speed run up to the big shaggies and then a subtle turn away on the opposite side of the direction I hope they will go. All the time whooping and scratching my PA mic with my finger nails. Occasionally I catch a glimpse of the terrified motorist watching me play chicken with the monsters. If the big boys still don’t move then it’s time to play rough. A little nudge with my grill guard will most often get a slow long look back and then a, “ I’m only moving because I want to” look. So far....these antics have been mostly successful. It was some show all day in the “narrows” of the Hayden Valley today. Traffic stopped for miles, with Canyon 1 and myself and a patrol car driving my Nicole Gruver running up and down a half mile stretch with lights and sirens blasting to nudge the beasts off the pavement. And to end...a love story. The two buffalo butts you see in one photo belong to Romeo and Juliet. Juliet has a bad hip injury and can barely move at all. She would manage about 6 steps onto the road and stop. Romeo would move his body to whatever side the closest vehicle was and block for her. He would not leave her side. He is the only one that “the gentle nudge” with the ambulance would not move. So, the lovely couple was given a pass. To the dismay of hundreds of car bound tourist. Usually a good western has some kind of love story, right?
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