Cute is not a word often used in reference to Buffalo. They're mean hornery critters who above all, take great delight in fooling humans.
Buffalo are masters of camoflague, as you can see from the picture below, to the untrained eye, they are very difficult to spot in the wild.
To help you, the potential Buffalo searcher, to be able to spot Buffalo in the wild, please study the picture below and see how many Buffalo you can see. When you think you have indentified all of the Buffalo, click on the link under the picture to see how you scored.
Now that you're fully trained, let's go searching for Buffalo!
Back to the top.It was only a month beforehand that I learned where Alberta was (- one of Canada's western Provinces, it's two main cities being Edmonton and Calgary), so when I received a call that a small town in Alberta was missing a Buffalo, I wasn't overly concerned at first.
The
people of Wainwright were persistent - I'll give them that. They had a celebration planned to unveil a new Buffalo Sign to commemorate the contribution that the local Buffalo herd had made to the town. There was only one problem. The Buffalo had disappeared. Their persistence encouraged me to look a little deeper into the story of Ernie the Wonder Buffalo.
In the end I couldn't say no - a town with a proud history had lost its Buffalo herd and I made it my business to see that he was found.
Even the longest journey begins with a single step. My first few steps lead me from my front door to my brother's car. He drove me to Tullamarine Airport where I boarded a plane for the first leg of the trip which took me from Melbourne to Auckland. I didn't have a lot of time in New Zealand which in retrospect was a shame because in places the countryside is very similar to Canada, so it would have been a good preparation. The only difference is that instead of Buffalo, Moose and Beavers, they have a few Kiwis and a shit-load of Sheep.
From Auckland it was off to Los Angeles. Talk about a contrast! They tried to usher me to an international transit lounge where we were supposed to wait for my next flight to Vancouver, but my adventurers spirit was too strong and I evaded the officials made my way down through customs and outside into the big wide world. I took one look at the pollution and headed back inside to the departure lounge to wait for my next flight.
The plane was a little late leaving and by the time I disembarked at Vancouver I was pretty tired as I found it difficult to sleep on the plane, but I had to collect my luggage from the United baggage collection area and make a mad dash to the far end of the terminal to check in with Canadian Airlines for my
final flight to Edmonton.
I was feeling bloated from the airline food and the long hours of inactivity. I didn't have time to clean up or pick up any provisions, instead I had to board the plane feeling huge, smelly, cranky and unshaven. It was as if I was becoming a Buffalo. I guess if I looked like one and felt like one, then I should be able to think like one, which would help on the search.
I thought I had an hour to wait for my guide when I arrived in Edmonton, because I didn't realise there was a one hour time difference between Alberta and British Columbia, so instead of being early, I was actually a little late. We hadn't met face to face, so I wasn't entirely sure I would recognise her. I searched in vain and decided to go to the baggage collection area to pick up my luggage and wait. I was halfway down the escalator when I spotted
Buffalo Girl.
By now it was almost 7pm local time, so we stopped to eat and then made the 2 hour drive to Wainwright. Finally 29 hours after I left home I was able to stretch out and
sleep, for tomorrow the search would begin.