Authorities track buffalo through Fort Scott

A buffalo, seen walking through Fort Scott on Monday, stands in a yard across the street from the home of Brad and Bethany Blubaugh, 1351 Marblecrest Dr. Several local residents who saw the animal said the buffalo seemed docile and did not cause any injuries or property damage. As of press time Tuesday, the Fort Scott Police Department was still pursuing the buffalo. The owner of the buffalo was also not known at press time.

Christmas Day can often be full of surprises, from opening gifts to seeing how extended family members have changed since the last visit, but some Fort Scott residents received an even bigger surprise.

One local resident, Bethany Blubaugh, captured a photograph of that surprise -- a bison that went sauntering through the city.

Blubaugh, 1351 Marblecrest Dr., said the buffalo not only visited her neighborhood, but also stopped for a rest in her front yard.

"It was about 3:30 p.m. Christmas Day when she came through," Blubaugh said. "My mom (Brenda Tucker) called me from the driveway and told me there was a buffalo in my yard. I had just gone into the house about five seconds before."

Once notified of the visitor, Blubaugh did what most anyone would do.

"I grabbed my camera and ran into the front yard," she said. "In the few seconds it took to get my camera, (the buffalo) had left my yard and gone across the street and was still going."

Blubaugh said the animal did not seem violent or too defensive.

"She wasn't hurrying, just loping along," she said. "She didn't act scared or anything. It was almost like she was on a mission to get to the open field below Dr. (Ralph) Hall's house."

Blubaugh said the Fort Scott Police Department showed up "about 20 seconds" after she went outside to snap pictures of the buffalo. No official report had been filed by the FSPD as of press time, as they were still pursuing the animal throughout Tuesday morning. Radio transmissions among the searchers and police dispatchers indicated that they followed the animal over a wide area, roaming as far east as the neighborhood around U.S. Highway 69 and 12th Street and as far as the western edge of the city.

Blubaugh said the buffalo did not cause any injuries or property damage.

"It just left some tracks," she said. "I'm pretty sure it didn't hurt anybody."

Local resident Rick Werling, who also lives on Marblecrest Drive, said he couldn't believe that a buffalo was in the neighborhood, though it wasn't the first time he'd seen wild animals near his house.

"We've actually had a bear in our back yard once," Werling said. "We've had turkeys, a fox and of course, deer."

Werling said many of the local residents followed the buffalo with cameras, trying to capture an image of their unexpected guest.

"It was very memorable," Werling said.

Blubaugh said the bison added even more excitement to an already joyous holiday.

"It made for a wild Christmas," she said.