The random object today is the American bison, commonly called a buffalo, and the challenge is real. The reference is almost completely black with a small brown patch on its back, so the trick is to shade and color without turning the whole thing into a black blob.
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About 150,000 years ago is when the North American bison became the North American bison. That estimate lines up with changes in mitochondrial DNA and when the Bering Land Bridge was open, but it is still an estimate. What sets these animals apart is how they face storms. The whole herd turns into the wind and walks through it. Their natural predators are wolves and bears, but healthy adults are a bad target, big hump, heavy bony head, horns, speed in short sprints, and the herd will circle a wounded one. Do not try to touch them. Every year somebody does. I once tried, survived it, and that probably explains a lot.
Once upon a time there were 45 to 50 million of these roaming North America. Those numbers dropped to less than a thousand in the 18 and 1900s through commercial hunting and ugly policies that tried to wipe out buffalo and destroy native economies. We almost lost them.
Today there are roughly 400,000, mostly on reservations like Yellowstone or the Wichita Mountains, with some on ranches. Many indigenous people hold a spiritual connection and believe the bison will return when there is balance. I would love to see them roam free again by the millions.
Click here to watch this episode of Sketch & Coffee
Also, if you, or a teacher friend, would like a 20-30 minute lesson plan about North American bison, feel free to download and use this one:
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