CARNDUFF, Sask. — A Langbank, Sask., family lost two cars recently in an encounter with a herd of stampeding buffalo near their farm.
Don Toth, MLA for Moosomin, said the incident on Jan. 12, began with their daughter.
“Our daughter Stephanie was on her way to a youth group meeting. About a mile south of our yard, and because of dense fog, just out of nowhere this herd of buffalo appeared right in front of her. She didn’t even have a chance to try and stop.
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“She ran into the animals. Two of them had to be destroyed because of their injuries.
Toth said after the herd of 55 bison had gone by, his daughter ran to Toth’s father’s nearby farm and phoned her parents.
Toth and his wife Lois left immediately to check on Stephanie. Toth thought the bison Stephanie had hit were two strays that were trying to catch up with the herd they had seen wandering earlier in the day.
“She forgot to tell us that the buffalo were coming our way. We weren’t aware of that. We were quite surprised when we just nicely turned out of the driveway to see this herd coming straight at us through the fog. We were able to stop, but they ran full steam ahead and ran right into our vehicle.
Head-on collisions
“Some of the buffalo that were in the centre tried to get out of the way, but because they were in such a tight group, they weren’t able to, and three buffalo ran right over the vehicle,” Toth said.
Both cars are total writeoffs.
“I don’t know a lot about buffalo, but I do understand that when they get going you do need a bit of room to get them going in a different direction.
“Cattle will kind of spread out. If buffalo get going in a certain direction, and if they are in a herd, they don’t stop.”
Toth said it was fortunate the herd did not come into contact with more vehicles traveling on the road in the dense fog.
“I went to where they were and within 30 seconds of them running north off of the grid road, three cars and a semi-trailer drove past.
“So, it could have been much more serious with a lot more vehicle damage and more animals would have been destroyed.”
Toth is in the process of settling with SGI.
“Cars can be replaced. It is difficult to replace a person’s health and that’s what we are really grateful for.”
