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Bullet The Bison Sold On Craigslist: ‘She Doesn’t Have A Mean Bone In Her Body’

By Shelley Hazen
Published on: 00:01 PST, May 16, 2016

People have formed close bonds with all kinds of animals, turning apparently wild creatures into beloved pets who are treated to all the comforts of a beloved dog. A bison may be one of the most unexpected indoor pets.

For a couple years, the 7-year-old, 1,100-pound bison lived in Argyle, Texas, with Karen Schoeve, but she’s recently been sold through Craigslist and given a new home.

The moment she left her beloved bison behind was a bittersweet one, CNN reported. The animal needed a new home — and only the best would do — but Schoeve still didn’t want to give her to be sold off. And apparently neither did Bullet.

When Karen left her with her new cow friends Saturday, she said the bison ran across the pasture to say goodbye.

“She walks around the pasture then she looks back at me. It was like Bullet was asking if it was OK.”

For two years, they lived together on three acres across from a golf course and country club, the Dallas Morning News reported; the creature was already domesticated and was imprinted with humans at birth.

Karen bought the bison because she and her husband had plans to open an animal education center. That marriage ended in divorce, and the dream died with it. The buffalo stuck around for a while, along with two paint ponies named Deuteronomy and Bam-Bam.

She had to downsize to the three-acre property and has sold several other horses, slowly thinning her little herd. There simply isn’t enough room for the 1,100-pound creature, or time: Schoeve works full-time as a court reporter.

“I wanted to keep her, but I knew I needed to let go of her. I am starting over completely and I am just trying to dig myself out,” she said, and turned to Craigslist to find another owner for her unusual pet. “I’m working and feeding animals and working and feeding animals. It’s just been hard for me to keep up. The best thing for me is to get everybody a good home, especially Bullet, because she deserves the best.”

The bison is definitely used to the best. Fully potty-trained, the wild animal is known to hang out in the house as if she owned the place. The bison often came inside through a door blown open by the wind. She’s been known to stare at the fish tank, eat Schoeve’s Mother’s Day flowers, and irritate her terrier, Charlie.

“When she is hot and sweaty, she’ll come in and lay on the couch,” she told WFAA. “No, I’m kidding — kind of. I mean, she comes in the house.

Karen has taken good care of her, too, cleaning her eyes and nose and helping her shed her winter coat; her hardy genetics mean that she’s never needed to visit the vet. She does have a penchant for roaming, however. She escaped in the middle of the night once, and the police had to be called to find her. And she once took advantage of having the house to herself and visited the golf course across the street.

“Scary? No, she’s not scary,” she said. “She’s got a great personality. Bullet’s a dog. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”

At the end of March, the heart-broken owner put an ad on Craigslist, hoping to find a suitable owner for her beloved pet.

“TAME/HOUSEBROKEN BUFFALO COW,” the Craigslist ad read.

The price: $5,960, cash only.

Since the bison has always been domesticated, she didn’t want to release her to a wild herd.

“It’s the way she came. It’s the way she is. She doesn’t need more buffaloes, she doesn’t need to be with cattle.”

It took a while for the animal to be sold, and the media coverage of the unusual Craigslist ad certainly helped matters. Dozens of offers came in, from petting zoos and roadside attractions. Late last week, she found the right home a few miles away and sold the bison to an anonymous landowner.

Since being sold, Bullet has made friends with two cows — also sold through Craigslist — at her new home, and Karen can visit her whenever she wants. The owner wants to build a barn just for Bullet, but Schoeve hopes for much better.

“We’re not building her a barn,” she said. “She gets a house.”

[Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images]

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