(NECN: Julie Loncich, Haverhill, MA) - Buffalo in Massachusetts? Certainly not an animal you'd expect to see grazing the pastures, but at Kimball Farms in Haverhill, they've become almost part of the community.
“They're just awesome animals,” said neighbor Kelly Stronach. “They're peaceful, quiet they make nice neighbors.”
Tyler Kimball brought in bison several years back because he liked them, and knew one day, they'd be good for business.
“I got chickens and I said ah I'll put the buffalo and the chickens together and the coyotes won't bother the chickens. So much for the plan, I never thought they'd get a buffalo but that's what they did,” said Kimball.
He was awoken from a deep sleep Saturday by a sound he knew all too well: howling coyotes.
Coyotes on the attack, to be more specific.
It wasn't until daylight he realized one of his buffalo was missing from the herd. It wasn't until the following night that her remains were discovered, and there wasn't much left.
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“They just must have cut her off from the group and ran her into the swamp,” said Kimball. “There was a tree down and I'm sure she ran up against that and then they had her.”
Scruffy, as she was affectionately known, was only a year old but weighed 400 pounds. Kimball believes as many as 10 coyotes took her down. Coyotes that have become a real problem at this nearly 200-year-old farm, and one that environmental police have given Kimball the power to control.
“Just got to be vigilant and be out here early in the morning and late at night,” Kimball said. “Just try and shoot them before they attack another animal.”
