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Bison Research at Ordway Prairie
Early rut
July 20, 2007 Update

Bull bellowing, Ordway Prairie Preserve Photo courtesy of Gustavus Adolphus College research team

As the rut progresses, the top bull often changes. At Ordway Prairie Preserve, researchers have seen several different bulls in this dominant role including “Legslash,” “Red E” and “Orange Glo.” Legslash was top bull last year. It is not typical for a bull to dominate a herd two years in a row, but he did strive to prove this wrong by coming into the rut healthy and acting as top bull.

Legslash’s reign did not last more than a week, as other bulls started to contend for the position. The dynamics changed daily until Orange Glo began to rise to the top. Orange Glo proved his worth by keeping the cows he was tending and not backing down in challenges and fights.

After proving his dominance to the other bulls, Orange Glo remained at the top for almost two weeks. He won fights and kept his females. Recently, however, a middle-ranked bull picked a fight with him and won. Orange Glo stayed with the herd to try to gain back his title, but ended up leaving. The researchers will wait to see if he tries to fight back or saves his energy for the remainder of the rut and the upcoming winter.

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Bison herd, Ordway Prairie Preserve
Photo courtesy of Gustavus Adolphus College research team