Re: 1st Season New Amsterdam - The Golden Boy - 5 star poll -

On Mar 11, 12:57 pm, "Joetheone" <joethe...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> "Pythor" <pyt...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>> If I get time tonight, I'll dig out the book and look into the buffalo
>> issue.
>
.....................................................................................................................................................
>
> Pretty sure I've read it. Yeah. I read a lot. Too much of it just goes
into
> the background, where I can't pull up the details of who said what
where,
> but the information does go into forming my opinions.
> I know the argumemts about the bufalo, I just don't buy them. I've
worked
> with animals all my life, so I have a different perspective than most
people
> that write books. I think that, for some reason, they just didn't think
of
> it. The hands I'm typing with have scratched a buffalo's ears, and it
liked
> it as much as any animal does. Don't tell me it can't be done. It has
been
> done.

I got the book out.  My memory was failing, and it was the Cape
Buffalo that specifically listed as being too mean for domestication.
The American Buffalo is mentioned in the book as bison, and not ever
given a definitive reason for its failure to be domesticated.  That
said, the reasons listed why all but 14 species of large herbivore
failed domestication are these:
     *     Diet - Some animals have a very specific diet, which is
difficult or impossible for primitive humans to provide in quantity.
I doubt this applies for bison.
     *      Growth Rate - Some large animals have extremely long
lives, and take a long time to reach a useful size.  I have no idea if
bison have this problem.
     *     Captive Breeding Issues - Some animals won't breed in
captivity.  I don't know about this one, but I suspect it's not the
issue.
     *     Nasty Disposition - Already addressed, from your
statements, probably not the issue.
     *     Tendency to Panic - Animals that run at the first sight of
danger are difficult to domesticate.  Does this apply to bison?
     *      Social Structure - To be easily domesticated, large
herbivores generally needed 3 social traits: Herds, Well established
hierarchy within the herd, Overlapping ranges of separate herds.  Do
bison have a well established hierarchy within the herd?  If so, are
they territorial, or do they allow mixing of herds when they come
together?
     From what little I know of bison, I suspect that one of the last
two traits is the sticking point.  Care to enlighten?