bullalo stampede

Anything unusual may start a stampede. Especially at night, things such as lighting a match, someone jumping off a horse, a horse shaking itself, a lightning strike, a tumbleweed blown into the herd, or "a horse running through a herd kicking at a saddle which has turned under his belly" have been known to cause a stampede.[1] Cattle which have just fed, and are more spread out are also less likely to stampede.[1] A large stampede will frequently eliminate anything in its path. With farmed animals, cowboys attempt to turn the moving herd into itself, so that it runs in circles rather than self-destructing by running over a cliff or into a river, or from damaging human life or property by overrunning human settlements. Tactics used to make the herd turn into itself include firing a pistol (i.e. using the noise) to make the leaders of the stampede turn.[1] Cowboys will sometimes sing or whistle at night to reassure the herd. Those on watch at night will often be careful not to do things which may startle the herd, but to ride a distance away first (e.g. before dismounting a horse or lighting a match) so as not to cause a stampede.[2] The American bison (Bison bison), also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds. Their range once roughly comprised a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in Canada's far northwest, south to the Mexican states of Durango and Nuevo León, and east along the western boundary of the Appalachian Mountains.[2] Due to commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century, the bison nearly went extinct and is today restricted to a few national parks and other reserves. Two subspecies or ecotypes have been described: the plains bison (Bison bison bison), smaller in size and with a more rounded hump, and the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) -- the larger of the two and having a taller, square hump.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Furthermore, it has been suggested that the plains bison consists of a northern (Bison bison montanae) and a southern subspecies, bringing the total to three.[6] However, this is generally not supported. The wood bison is one of the largest species of bovid in the world, surpassed by only the Italian Chianina, the Asian gaur and wild Asian water buffalo. It is the largest extant land animal in North America.