Buffalo whisperer RC Bridges at home with his pet bison in Texas

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RC Bridges, nicknamed 'The Buffalo Whisperer' and his wife Sherron, share
their Texas home with two enormous bison - 2,400 pound 'Wildthing' and
recent 900-pound arrival 'Bullet'.


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Wildthing, who is seven years old, acted as the best man when his owners
renewed their wedding vows in 2006, after five years of marriage. RC, 63,
said: "He carried the rings on his horns and threw them off one at a time
for us to catch."


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RC, who is a cowboy and horse trainer, has worked with bison - or
buffaloes, as he refers to them - most of his life. After losing an eye in
2004 he had to sell his herd - except for one young male, Wildthing, who he
decided to keep as a pet.


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His photographer wife Sherron, 39, who is part Native American and makes
traditional-style clothes and headdresses using the animals' hair, said:
"We love our buffaloes. I think if either one of them died, RC would
probably go along with them."


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Bullet, a female, who is three and a half years old, still hasn't been
house trained, or become familiar with the family's pet wolf, Jewell
Spirit. She was given to the couple after her previous owner found her too
hard to control. RC said: "Her owner told me if I could catch her, I could
have her. She kept getting out of the pen and the sheriff's department was
mad about it. Well, I just caught her, put her in a trailer and brought her
home."


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Bison can be very dangerous animals. Their curved, sharp horns are two feet
long, and lethal, and they are able to run as fast as 40 mph. RC said: "I
knew they were crazy animals but it actually turned out way better than I
thought it would be. I always dreamed of training a buffalo, but I never
thought about training two. They're like my buddies. Bullet likes to be
with me at all times, she'll even give up food to be close to me."


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RC, who insists his friends and relatives still visit the family home,
said: "They're not afraid to come over because I keep everything safe. But
most of them think I'm going to get hurt or killed. I don't think you can
ever take all of the wildness out of the buffaloes, though. I've been hurt
a lot, so I guess its just part of the game."


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Nevertheless, the couple's two grown-up children, son Will and daughter
Taylor, are proud of the family pets and have even broken world records
with them. RC said: "My son was the first person to ever ski behind a
buffalo - on water skis and on sand. My daughter was the first person to
ever snow sled behind a buffalo."


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He even has trained them to come up his pick-up truck.


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One of their huge pets looks startled as it sees another bison's head on
the wall in the Bridges' lounge


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The buffalo feel completely at home.


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They move about freely everywhere.


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