InFocus Magazine ? Home on the Range

The ranch is home to a herd of more than 100 bison, including 25 calves. Adult bison can weigh up to 2,400 pounds.

Photo by Seadance Photography

When Marc Vance was a boy he told his parents that one day he would own a ranch.? His much-talked about dream, however, was a vision of vast prairie dotted with cattle.? A herd of bison peacefully grazing in lush fields on Vancouver Island never factored into the equation.

?When I get up in the morning and look out the window, I practically have to pinch myself because it still seems surreal,? says Vance as he gestures toward the fields of Island Bison ranch in Black Creek.? ?I am so lucky to live here with my family!?

The panoramic view features a beautiful new home set against a backdrop of towering Douglas fir trees, a welcoming farm gate store, a couple of big barns and steel holding corrals.? As if that wasn?t idyllic enough, there is also a herd of American buffalo?more commonly referred to in Canada as ?bison??shuffling about peacefully under a hot summer sun.? If there is a heaven on earth this just might be it.

One of the reasons Vance is so captivated by this lifestyle is that he and his family are still relatively new to both Vancouver Island and to the ranch.? Vance and his wife Lisa, their four children Taylor (15), Tanner (12), Chase (9) and Laney (5), along with Lisa?s parents, Dick and Carol Watson, moved here from Langley just last year.? The Island Bison Ranch, however, has been here since 2004.? How both came together are equally interesting stories.

?We have owned and operated a successful closet organizing business in Langley called Sunburst Shutters, Blinds and Closets since 1997,? explains Vance.? ?In 2004, we moved from the city to a three-acre hobby farm.? I thought that I was finally going to be able to become a rancher? albeit on a very small scale.? My dream was shattered when we brought home two calves and I discovered that I was severely allergic to cattle. I suffered an acute anaphylactic reaction and almost stopped breathing.? The calves had to go and, in their place, came a few sheep, goats and chickens.

?While we loved our little farm, it was not exactly my idea of ranching,? Vance adds with a laugh.? ?Later, following a hunting trip to northern BC, I discovered that I am not allergic to bison, so a small seed of hope was planted.?

About the same time that Vance was in Langley and coming to terms with his severe cattle allergy and resultant squashed dream, another man?s dream was becoming a reality. ? On Vancouver Island, Delton Henrich was thrilled that his first shipment of 50 bison had arrived on his new ranch.

Henrich had started farming as a teenager and developed a large dairy farm with his family.? Twenty years later, he embarked on a career in the coastal logging industry, working as a falling contractor for 25 years.? In 2002, after retiring from ?the woods?, Henrich purchased land from Timberwest Forest Products and set out to turn the heavily forested land into his very own ?field of dreams?.

It took two years to clear the land, create the pastures, install fencing and build corrals.? By 2004, Henrich became the first person on Vancouver Island to have a bison farm, simply named ?Island Bison.?

In the summer of 2009, circumstance (combined with poor directions) resulted in Marc Vance and his son Chase accidentally driving by Island Bison on Hamm Road in Black Creek.

?I was on Vancouver Island to install a closet system,? recalls Vance.? ?We were hopelessly lost and just happened to drive by this field full of buffalo.? That got me dreaming again!? I decided to call the owner to inquire about it.? At the time, I had no idea that Delton Henrich had put Island Bison ranch up for sale.? One week later, Lisa and I came back to Vancouver Island to check out the farming operation and the local church.?

The Vance?s belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and, if they decided to move here, having the on-going support of an extended church family was vitally important to them. Not surprisingly, the faith community welcomed them with open hearts.? While leaving behind their Langley congregation would be difficult, knowing they would be welcome here was an important factor in their decision to relocate.

Before they began negotiations to buy Island Bison, the Vance family held a family council.? They discussed whether or not they should take a leap of faith, sell the Langley area hobby farm, and move to Vancouver Island to raise bison.? The entire family shared Marc?s excitement.? The ?For Sale? sign went up on their Langley property and the Vance?s were committed to move to Black Creek.

Island Bison is a family affair. From left: Lisa and Mark Vance with daughter Laney and son Chase, and Lisa?s parents Richard and Carol Watson, hang out their family dog and friendly resident pigs.

Photo by Seadance Photography

The purchase of Island Bison included the 110-acre property, all infrastructures, and the bison herd.? There were no living accommodations on the farm at the time.? They took possession in April, 2011.? They leased an addition 43 acres from Henrich and are now in negotiations to purchase that property as well.

Marc and his in-laws moved to the Island immediately after the sale closed, boarding with members of their church while they learned to run the ranch and build a house on the property.

?It was a real learning experience,? says Vance.? ?We had to learn everything.? I didn?t even know how to drive a tractor!? We were working from 7 am until 10 pm every day.? It was both exhausting and exhilarating!?

The new home, with carriage house accommodations for grandma and grandpa Watson, was finished by August of last year and the rest of the family moved here soon after.? Raising bison is now a family affair.

?I still travel to Vancouver a couple of times a month to oversee business operations there,? says Vance. ?And Dick and I do most of the work connected with the bison and operating the farm.? Lisa and Carol help with the office and organizing sales at the farmers? markets in Courtenay and Campbell River, as well as direct marketing to retailers and restaurants.? The kids help where they can and have started their own little business making pet treats from bison by-products.?

After extensive research on raising bison, and plenty of guidance from other bison breeders in Canada, Marc Vance was committed to raise the bison based on a ?hands off? management philosophy.? Unlike cattle and other domesticated farm animals that may need hands-on attention, bison are still wild and do best when left alone.? The Island Bison buffalo roam freely in the pasture and adjacent wooded areas.? They breed, give birth to their calves, and mingle in a herd much like their plains-roaming ancestors did.

While they may be in captivity, you can never forget that they are still wild animals that can be aggressive at times and very protective of their young.? Considering that a full-grown adult bison can weigh upwards of 2,400-pounds, they can be very dangerous? and fast!? A bison can go from a standstill to 55 kilometres per hour charge in just three steps!

When circumstances require that the bison be handled, every aspect of the human interaction is done as calmly as possible.? The bison are lured into the holding corrals with hay and then guided slowly through a zigzag series of alley-ways until they get to a special bison ?squeeze? where they can be safely examined and handled for ear tagging, weighing or pregnancy checking.

?The hydraulic-controlled Berlinic Handling System we use was developed using input provided by Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who achieved word-wide recognition for her insight into animal behaviour and the development of humane animal handling facilities,? says Vance.? ?Whenever we are working with the bison we have to be absolutely certain it is safe for both man and beast.? We would never, for example, use a cattle prod or whip to get a bison to move.? Instead, a simple paddle filled with pebbles is used.? We calmly shake that by their heels a couple of times and they quickly move forward because, to a bison, it sounds like a rattlesnake!?

The Vance?s bison herd consists of about 75 adults, 25 calves and another 10 or so calves that will be born in the coming weeks.? The bison are 100 per cent grass fed and they drink water from natural springs on the property.? The only supplement provided is a special kelp meal that supplies additional vitamins and minerals.

Richard Watson and Mark Vance help Laney Vance bottle-feed Ginger, a six-week-old orphaned bison calf.

Photo by Seadance Photography

The bison are not routinely treated with antibiotics and never receive growth hormones.? Each animal is identified with an ear tag and a microchip so that in the rare case where antibiotics may be used to treat an infection, the individual can be tracked to ensure it is excluded from the meat supply chain.

Bison are ready for butchering at about 18-24 months of age, when they weight about 1,000-pounds.? A dressed carcass produces about 500 pounds of prime meat cuts, as well as cuts more suitable for processing into sausages and pepperoni.

Vance is proud to say that all Island Bison processed meats are custom-made by Rob Hacker in Comox.? They are cured with celery powder, not chemical nitrates or nitrites. They are seasoned with sea salt produced on Vancouver Island and sweetened with Big D?s Honey, which is also produced locally.? Absolutely nothing is wasted in the processing of a bison?skulls are cleaned and sold as decorations; the hides are given to First Nations people so they can cure them and use the leather to make drums; organ meats and other extra ?parts? are turned into dog treats.

While many of the young bison may eventually be harvested, there is one special bison that will likely spend the rest of his days roaming the Black Creek ranch.? ?Bob? is a castrated male bison about four years old, bought from a ranch in Pincher Creek, Alberta and introduced to the herd last fall.? Bob was hand-raised and had become quite tame?for a wild buffalo?but he had become too big to be a pet.

?I had no idea what I would do with Bob, but I couldn?t resist bringing him home to be our mascot,? Vance sheepishly admits.? ?Turns out, because he has some trust of humans, Bob has a calming effect on the entire herd and is especially helpful when we separate cows and calves so we?ve nicknamed him ?Bob the babysitter.? Bob usually comes when called and the other bison follow him.? This allows us to take a close look at the herd, which is a great because they are normally very wary of humans. ?

There is one bison on the ranch, however, that can be touched? at least for now.? Her name is Ginger and she is an orphaned calf.? Lisa Vance invites me down to the barn for the afternoon bottle-feeding so I can meet her.

Along with an entourage of farm visitors, I peek through the fence rails and see the three-week-old baby bison and two six-week-old Asian water buffalo calves named Wallie and Ollie.

?Ginger was born on the ranch but was orphaned when her mother was mortally wounded in an altercation with another bison,? says Lisa.

?Because bison are herd animals, she would have failed to thrive on her own, so we bought Walley and Ollie from the McClintock?s Dairy Farm in Dove Creek to keep her company.? They sell buffalo milk to Natural Pastures Cheese factory.? Ginger will eventually be introduced back into the herd but we plan to raise the water buffalo and train them to pull a cart.? We thought it would be fun to have them on the farm so that visitors can see the difference between a true bison and a buffalo.?

Wallie and Ollie are released from the confines of the pen and scamper over to enthusiastically drink their milk, much to the delight of the kids holding the milk bottles. I am invited to enter the pen and feed Ginger her lunch.? While the she may still have a wild instinct, her will to survive outweighs instinctive caution.? She does not hesitate to come for her bottle and guzzles it down with remarkable speed. Then she starts bouncing around the pen with what I can only assume is a mixture of playfulness and wild abandon.? Cute as she is, I think it was wise to leave her alone to kick up her heels without me as a target!

For me, the experience of bottle-feeding a baby bison was a thrill.? For the Vance family it has become part of the daily chores? but always a fun one. ? As on any farm, every day brings both moments of joy and unique challenges, but the Vance family wouldn?t trade it for anything else.? They are thrilled with their new life? and are at home where the buffalo roam.

To arrange a visit to Island Bison Ranch or inquire as to where to? buy their bison meat, call?250-650-9305 or visit www.islandbison.com?

Visitors are welcome to visit the ranch by appointment any day except Sunday.? You can meet Ginger, Wallie and Ollie up close and view the adult bison from behind the safety of the fence.

Source: http://www.infocusmagazine.ca/2012/home-on-the-range/

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