Even the largest land animals in North America sometimes have no choice but to grow up fast.
Bison calves are often at the highest risk of death when you break down a herd of bison. Whether it be the cruel winters, the relentless pursuit of predators, or just normal travel, a young bison faces many tests before it makes it to adulthood… if it does at all.
There’s always a fine line between life and death out in the wild, and the simple act of crossing a fast-moving river can even put a younger bison in peril. A bison calf might feel as though they aren’t ready to make their way across a water way, though not crossing could put them at even more of a risk.
That’s because if the rest of the herd moves across, the bison calf better do so as well. Otherwise, it’ll be left behind and forced to fend for itself long before it’s strong enough to do so. A calf normally depends on help from its mother for the first year or so of its life.
And as many of you parents out there probably know, there are a lot of learning curves for young ones. Though it might be harsh, sometimes the best way to learn something is to be thrown right into it. This bison calf probably would have preferred a slower teaching of “how to cross the river,” but that’s not what it ended up getting.
Instead, this bison calf in Yellowstone National Park was left by its lonesome to figure out how to navigate through the fast-moving current. It would have been easy for the youngling to freeze up and stay on the other side. However, it willed itself to put on a brave face and dove right in, then figured things out as it went.
If it was this bison’s first time crossing a river, it deserves to be applauded. No, it wasn’t the smoothest process, but it still made it to the other side, and that’s all that matters. Needless to say, the bison will surely remember this swim and try to improve upon it next time. The good news for this little thing is that as it grows bigger (possibly up to 2,00 pounds), the rivers will only get easier to cross.
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