One of America’s wild animals is called a buffalo but it is not a buffalo at all, but a bison. The true wild buffalo live in the grasslands, swamps and mountains of South Africa and Asia. Domesticated species live in Egypt, Europe and South America. All range in size from 450 to 1500 pounds and are three to five feet high at their shoulders. They have short, thick necks, broad heads, long tails, short legs and long, pointed horns curving outward.
All buffalo are good swimmers, and they are never found far from rivers or water holes, where they graze in early morning or during night hours. They also enjoy neck-deep mud-baths, often shared with hippos, to escape the hot sun and relieve the bites of pesky insects. Let’s consider two kinds:
The coal-black Cape buffalo of South Africa is the largest, about five feet tall and weighing over half a ton. It is a terrifying experience to have one of these charge at you. It can run at more than thirty miles an hour and fears neither man nor beast. It is not a very charming animal with its huge, low-slung, ivory-colored curved horns worn like a helmet, draped from the top of its massive, ugly head.
But it does have some friends. Robin-sized oxpeckers perch on its back and sides, making their living on ticks and insects picked from its hair and skin. These red-beaked birds are equipped by the Creator with special claws for holding onto the animal’s sides while feeding, just as a woodpecker clings to the side of a tree. Both animal and bird find this a great convenience, and the relationship between the two is an example of how God frequently arranges for two entirely different creatures to help one another.
Another species, the water buffalo of India, somewhat smaller, has an entirely different character. Given a chance it seeks marshy localities and lies in the water when chewing its cud. Large numbers are tamed and pull carts, drag plows through rice paddies, and carry loads on their backs. Although fierce looking, they do not attack men, and when tamed even little children can handle them easily.
The Lord God has taken delight in creating even these buffalo, some of them serving mankind and others just filling their place in His purposes of creation. The Bible reminds us of this in these verses: “Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul [life] of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:9,109Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? 10In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:9‑10).
ML-10/27/1985