Florida Wild Bison

My wife and I went to Payne Prairie Preserve yesterday in Gainesville, Florida and were able to walk within 15 feet or so of these two guys. In all, we saw 12 bison.

Apparently, Spanish explorers in the 1400's documented large herds of bison in Florida, however, by the 1700's they were gone. In the early 1970's Midwestern bison were relocated and there are now 45+ bison at the park according to the visitor center attendant.

Somehow, I managed not to hear a single thing about bison in Florida in the past 29 years.

Anyway, this was really a great experience for us.

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cool shot

Wow, I have lived in Florida my whole life and I never knew about that.

Me too and I didnt know that either. lol

I don't live in Florida and I even didn't know. Seriously though, it's interesting to know bison can be snow birds. I suppose there was/is lots of grass for them to eat, and they don't have to wade through all that snow as they do here in the west.

You can get pretty close to them around here and other places like Yellowstone too, the question is whether you really want to be that close to an animal that is unpredictable and can either flatten you like a small car could or toss you in the air like a rag doll. Maybe the heat makes the ones in Florida more mellow, but somehow I have my doubts they don't have their ill tempered moments too.

They have bison at Land Between the Lakes, and you are instructed to remain in your car when they are near. And when you get OUT of your car, you have to stay within so many feet of it Just In Case. These animals are large, fast and strong.
Karen

I lived in Fla 15 years & never knew they had wild bison there,,,,nice pics...Ron

Thanks all and, yes, it probably wasn't my smartest moment getting that close even if it did take me 30 minutes to close the last 100 feet.

In Yellowstone the rule is 25m/yds from bison. They can move quickly enough and those horns look pretty sharp!

Great shot, but seriously- you took a hell of a chance getting that close.
Bison - one of the animal reasons I bought a lens that does 500mm.