Bison are large, even-toed ungulates in the genus Bison within the subfamily Bovinae. Bison are nomadic grazers and travel in separate male and female herds for most of the year until the end of the summer when they come back together for the mating season.

There are only two extant and six extinct species. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, (Bison bison), found only in North America, is the more numerous and has two sub species, Plains bison (B. b. bison) and the Wood bison (B.b. athabascae). The second species is the Wisent or European bison (bison bonasus) which is found in Europe and the Caucasus.

The American bison and the European bison are the largest surviving terrestrial animals in North America and Europe. They are cloven hooved ungulates, and are similar in appearance to other bovines such as cattle and true buffalo. They are broad and muscular with shaggy coats of long hair. American bison adults grow up to 6 feet 7 inches (2 m.) in height and 11 feet 6 inches (3.5 m). European bison grow up to 6 feet 11 inches (2.1 m) in height and 9 feet 6 inches meters (2.9) in length.

American bison can weigh from 880 to 2,800 pounds (400 to 1,270 kilograms). European bison can weigh from 1,800 to 2,200 pounds (800 to 1,000 kg) and tend to taller than American bison.

The American bison, also commonly known as the American buffalo or just buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the North American grasslands in massive herds, numbering into the millions of short horns.

In the nineteenth century the bison became nearly extinct by a combination of hunting and the bovine diseases from domestic cattle. In recent years, bison have made a resurgence, but only a few national parks and reserves.

Their historical range roughly comprised a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in far northwest Canada, south to the states of Durango and Nuevo León in Mexico, and east to the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States from New York to Georgia or possibly to Florida. Bison were seen in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750.

There are several depictions of Bison in the American monetary and flags. The first postage stamp was the 1898 US four cent stamp depicting an Indian Hunting Buffalo. In 1901 the obverse of US ten dollar bill depicted Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and an American bison.

Then from 1913 to 1938, the US five cent coin, commonly called a buffalo nickel, featured an American bison on the reverse. The state of Wyoming is the only state to use a bison on its flag.

Awake, dress, go into the d-mart for the rest room, after which I drive to the w-mart for coffee, com and a short time with the pounding of keys. By noon, I am totally ready to get back on the road and head out driving south to make Yellowstone my first stop on my southbound snowbird journey.

On the way in, I nearly rear end a truck who slams on his breaks for a bear jam.

Bear Jam Definition: A traffic jam caused by tourist stopping to look at a bear or other wild animals near the roadway, usually seen within the Yellowstone National Park or other wildlife sanctuaries.

After entering the park, I come upon a bear jam that is still moving but extremely slowly and I must needs drive slow for some time not knowing what is the cause of this bear jam. Then, I see the animal, a bull bison walking on the northbound lane. In my lane the people in their cars, like me have a camera in hand and take photos as the bison walks by.

About 100 feet behind the bison is a car moving slowly and behind that car is a long line of north bound travelers, most who may never learn the cause of this Bear Jam.

I am just glad that I was in the southbound lane for this Bear Jam.

Arise and see the sun just above the distant mountains, dress in my fall blues, grab my computer bag and walk in for coffee and com.

After I walk up and get my second cup, about ten this morning, I pack out, drive west on SR 84, but before leaving town, I stop at the g-mart for a bag of ice and some vegetables. Then I continue west to US 91 and then turn south to West Yellowstone.

I continue upriver and come upon the Madison River flats bison herd of buffalo and take photos of them as well. This visit, I find the herd spread out over a larger area than I found them last year.

Methinks the herd is much smaller this year, but that is just my opinion, however, I find out later that the bison here at this time in Madison Flats were all bulls because the cows have been out in the forest calving.

Just under a week later, when driving along the Firehole River, I come upon the cows with their newborn calves at the Nez Pierce river crossing.

Also, when driving along the Madison River, there are many cows and calves here as well.

But also lurking around the fringes of the herd is a hungry Coyote hunting for a red dog that has strayed too far from the cow.

I drive through the entire park and see many wild horse, but only one bison.

After driving for a couple of days, I stop next at Wind Cave national park and here see a good size herd of bison.

Arriving in Yellowstone, I drive first through Haden valley and see the cows with their calves in a large herd or near by, with the bulls apart and hanging out by themselves or in small groups.

From a population of 30 to 60 million animals throughout North America, the American bison in the wild reached a low of 100 during the late 1800′s.

The National Bison Range is a National Wildlife Refuge located in western Montana established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt to provide a sanctuary for American bison. The NBR is one of the oldest National Wildlife Refuges in the United States.

The fact that we can still see bison on the landscape is one of the finest accomplishments in the history of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Today, about 400 to 500 bison call this refuge home

Next stop on the 2009 journey is Yellowstone and when entering, I drive slowly looking for wildlife. It does not take long before I come upon the bison herd along the Madison river where I take up several positions for many photos of cows and calves.