Woman Adopts Orphaned Baby Bison Into Her Family

Emmie Sperando, a photographer and self-described “wanderin’ buckaroo”, rescued an orphaned baby bison whom she named Lucy and has given her a loving place by her side ever since.

A ranch called and they were like do you want an orphan bison? And I was like yes …so she has lived with my horses and she loves my dog Johnny…it’s kind of cute to just see how much she’s grown and how far she’s come.

Baby Bison

Sperando explained that Lucy was quite a handful at first. She eventually became used to human interaction and has become an integral part of Sperando’s animal family.

She would paw the ground and try to charge me. And I’m like see you’re like two weeks old you’re not gonna run me over. She didn’t understand that I was trying to feed her.

This is quite a feat, as the mortality rates for orphaned bison are very high.

Orphan bison survival rates are pretty low which is why no one really thought she would live through the weekend whenI first got her. After she lived through the weekend I was like, “oh now I have a big bison that I’m responsible for”…I’m her mom and she knows that very well.

Rescued Baby Bison

Sperando moved her squad of Lucy, three horses, and her dog Johnny from Montana to Arizona in March 2023.

Moving across the country with 3 horses, a bison, a dog, and a cat as a solo woman

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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