No, we have not bought a bulldozer, although that might not be a bad idea considering the number of locust and Osage orange trees we need to remove.

Bull-dozer in this instance refers to our actual bison bulls (and the cows).

Bison have heavy winter coats that they shed in the spring. They are looking particularly shaggy—and a little shabby—right now. While they are extremely flexible, it is still hard for them to scratch all the places they itch and get the old, shaggy hair off. I have many times offered to brush it off them, but, so far, they have not taken me up on that offer.

They prefer to rub against trees, stumps, whatever they can find. We found a stump in the field that they had rubbed against so much, they pushed it right out of the ground. Hence, the term bull-dozers.

We picked the stump up and brought it up to the barn. All the bark had been rubbed off one area, which is smooth as silk, as if it had been sanded by a master wood-worker.

Many trees bear the evidence of bison itchiness. The bark is rubbed smooth in spots. Bison seem to prefer cedar, possibly because the cedar smell gives some protection against insects. But they also like mulberry. In fact, I think they eat the mulberries off the lower branches, or maybe it is the leaves I see them nibbling.

Whatever the reason, our bison definitely like the trees as back-scratchers.