Anyone driving through the Clarks Chapel area of Macon County may think they are seeing things. As passersby slow down or do a double-take, they are able to see two adult bison often lounging or grazing in a pasture.
The male and female bison belong to Bill and Donna Kimsey and their family, most specifically Bill’s 94-year-old mother, Rosemary Keener Kimsey. He pointed out that his family has been in Macon County for many generations and that both he and his wife worked three decades for the Macon County School System.
“My dad, [William Jackson Kimsey], really always wanted a bison, but he died eight years ago,” said Bill. “But my mother really liked them as well, so when I went to an exotic animal sale in South Carolina, they had them. I got the female first and then the male. When I was a kid, we would drive to Robbinsville and someone had them in a pasture and we, as a family, always talked about getting them.”
Before he purchased the bison, Bill did some research to learn what they eat, their behaviors, and other things he might need to know. He feeds them grain, allows them to graze on the pasture grass, and provides them a mineral block – just as he does his cows.
Bison or buffalo?
A huge misconception is that bison and buffalo are the same type of animal. However, Encyclopedia Britannica makes is clear that what Americans often call “buffalo” are actually “bison,” because buffalo “are indigenous to South Asia (water buffalo) and Africa (Cape buffalo), while bison are found in North America and parts of Europe.”
Anyone who has ever traveled to the western part of the United States, especially to Yellowstone National Park, has most likely seen bison. Many do not realize that bison once roamed the valleys and mountains of Western North Carolina. Both Native Indians and settlers depended on bison meat and hides, yet history records that bison were overhunted greatly reducing their numbers.
An informational sign on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Milepost 373, indicates where the last Western North Carolina bison supposedly existed before it was killed in 1799.
Don’t pet the fluffy cows
Bill said that while both the male and female bison have settled into their grassy home in Macon County – and the Kimsey family hopes to one day welcome a baby bison – they are not pets to be coddled. Neither of his bison have shown aggression toward humans, but bison are essentially wild animals and not historically domesticated like regular cows.
Thus, no one should ever stop and try to pet or feed them if they happen to be traveling through the Clarks Chapel area and see the bison in their electric, barbed-wire fence.
Not convinced? Watch the countless videos on YouTube showing people getting gored, tossed, and stomped by bison. They seem lovable and docile, but they are wild animals. That is one reason why a humorous, but serious, slogan is prevalent on stickers, hats, t-shirts, and more in many western states: “Don’t pet the fluffy cows!”
“They do show some aggression to the Brahman cows we have, but not too much,” said Bill. “They mostly stay to themselves. Generally, they seem happy and content. We just like looking at them, and knowing we own a part of American history. We’re definitely not raising them to process for meat.”