A buffalo wallow or bison wallow is a natural topographical depression in flat
prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
land that holds rain water and
runoff.
Though thriving bison herds roamed and grazed the great prairies of North America for thousands of years, they left few permanent markings on the landscape. Exceptions are the somewhat rare yet still visible ancient buffalo wallows found occasionally on the North American prairie flatlands.
Originally these naturally-occurring depressions would have served as temporary watering holes for wildlife, including the
American bison
The American bison (''Bison bison''; : ''bison''), commonly known as the American buffalo, or simply buffalo (not to be confused with Bubalina, true buffalo), is a species of bison that is endemic species, endemic (or native) to North America. ...
(buffalo).
Wallowing
Wallowing in animals is Comfort behaviour in animals, comfort behaviour during which an animal rolls about or lies in mud, water or snow. Some definitions include rolling about in dust, however, in ethology this is usually referred to as dust bat ...
bison that drank from and bathed in these shallow water holes gradually altered their pristine nature. Each time they went away, they carried mud with them from the hole, thus enlarging the wallow. Furthermore, the wallowing action caused abrasion of hair, natural body oils and cellular debris from their hides, leaving the debris in the water and in the soil after the water evaporated. Every year debris accumulated in the soil in increasing concentration, forming a water-impenetrable layer that prevented rain water and runoff from percolating into the lower layers of the soil. Ultimately the water remained for long periods, which attracted more wildlife. Even when stagnant, the water would be eagerly drunk by thirsty animals.
Buffalo wallows are also made by the Asian
water buffalo
The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...
and the
African buffalo
The African buffalo (''Syncerus caffer)'' is a large sub-Saharan African bovine.
The adult African buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head, referred to ...
.
In popular culture
In 1953, the writer Charles Tenney Jackson (1874–1955) published ''The Buffalo Wallow: A Prairie Boyhood'',
[Jackson, Charles Tenney (1953). ''The Buffalo Wallow: A Prairie Boyhood''. New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company. Republished by ]University of Nebraska Press
The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...
, 1967. an autobiographical novel about two boys (cousins) growing up during pioneer days in an almost empty stretch of
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
, where their favorite hideaway is a buffalo wallow.
References
{{Reflist
Depressions (geology)
Ethology
Bison hunting