The latest news from Ron & T of The Buffalo Wool Co. at RATH Ranch. Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Hello and Happy Saturday Morning Friends!

Hope all is well in your part of the world. Things here are pretty good, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! This has been the busiest shopping season we have had here by a wide margin, we have been blessed with more order than ever before, and I am hoping you have finished up your holiday shopping as things here are getting pretty thin...

Mike at the Knitting Mill is still making and delivering stuff, but we are running out of time for USPS holiday delivery. Monday will most likely be our last trip to the downtown post office, and while we have to do it to get things to you in any sort of timely manner, it's a big chunk of every day and I am not gonna miss sitting in traffic every day. So, if you need anything else, more socks, pecans, gloves, beanies, or whatever, please get your order in quickly if you would like it before Christmas. Or, if you would like, we do offer instant delivery Gift Certificates, let them choose their own BWC gift.

I did do my little driving adventure Thursday morning, and do have to say that my wife won the birthday thing this year, was soooooo much fun. Was the perfect gift. T had to stay and handle customer service and questions, so, I took a buddy with me, and we did a ride along first 4 laps in a Hellcat with a real driver, and then he filmed my racing experience. Really hated to return the car... was a lot of fun zipping around the Texas Motor Speedway, if there had been a good exit, I probably would have driven it home.

Other than that, just a little randomness in here, and a recycled tamale recipe. Hope you enjoy it, and hope you have an amazing day!

T, Ron and the rest of the crew here at the Buffalo Wool Co.

Winter Warriors: How Animals Survive Yellowstone’s Harshest Season

from Yellowstone.org December 8, 2025

The alarm rings. Long johns on. Coffee. Snow pants on. Mid-layer. Snow bibs. Puffy jacket. Thermos. Snow cap. Extra layer. Sunglasses. Heck, maybe another puffy. Wool socks. Muck Boots. Gloves. Start the car. Scrap the ice off the windshield. Time to go.

To exist in Yellowstone in the winter takes some serious consideration. Thankfully humans have the option of staying inside when it gets a little too chilly or storms are a bit too thick. Wildlife species don’t have that option. The species that call Yellowstone home have gone through thousands of years of evolution causing adaptations that make them specifically well-suited to the environment that is brought about by the winter season. The bison, red fox, and otter are all great examples of how winter survival is not a matter of one adaptation, but rather the complex interactions of several factors that make these animals capable of surviving the landscape’s harshest season.

NPS / Jacob W. Frank

American bison are built for winter. Being such massive animals, they retain heat easier than other species with smaller bodies and lower surface area-to-volume ratios. This phenomenon, known as Bergmann’s Rule, is a general trend that suggests it is more common for mammals to be larger when they experience climates that are typically colder. With more core volume, they are losing much less heat to their ambient environment than a smaller animal would whose surface area to body volume ratio is much higher. Bison also grow a thick winter coat that is renowned for its ability to keep them warm in intensely cold conditions. Their winter coat has an average of 20,000 hairs per square inch. This insulates them so well that snow will accumulate atop a bison’s coat and not melt from their body heat! For comparison, research found that the average human has about 1,150 hairs per square inch (although notably there is quite a range depending on the person). While they have the warmth figured out, bison still need to access grass for forage, which could be buried under multiple feet of snow.

read the rest of the article here.

Ron's Note: If only somebody would figure out how to protect humans utilizing this amazing natural resource... would probably make excellent socks, gloves, hats etc... just an idea

IT'S HAPPENING!!!!

Charlie, Shauna, T and I have been working with the National Buffalo Foundation and The National Bison Association, and we have a release date, a plan and a venue!! The most exciting film on bison is going to premier at the National Bison Winter Conference on Jan 21 next year...

and Meet My Neighbor will have DVD's available not too long afterwards.

It's Tamale Season!

Chile and Cheese Bison Dog Tamales

This might have been one of the strangest bison recipies we have ever made, but they are absolutely flipping delicious. The dogs used aren't like any other hot dog I have ever had, Rocky Mountain did an amazing job on these things, they are actually all high quality bison meat and hold up perfectly in the tamale.

Got third place in at the NBA bison recipe contest last year.

Masa for 12 – 18 tamales:

Ingredients

1 container (12 oz) “Bacon Up” rendered bacon fat. Or, if you have your own bacon, pork or bison fat available .. that all works just fine at room temperature
4 cups masa harina (personal preference is MaSaCa)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon salt
Optional - 1-3 oz of ground red chile powder, I like Pendry’s “Fort Worth Fire”
3 3/4 cups warm chicken, beef, bison stock divided – 3 ½ cups for mixing; ¼ cup reserved … as you will see later.

Prep:

Place fat in a large 8-10 qt. bowl. Beat with a fork or small whisk until very creamy. 10-20 minutes—yes, it’s a long time but it is worth it in the end. You can use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or hand mixer on medium speed for about 8 minutes.
Add the baking powder, and salt to whipped fat. Whip thoroughly
Add the masa harina and continue mixing by hand. You cannot over mix but you can under mix. You can use either your stand mixer or hand mixer if you prefer, but do keep scraping the edges and bottom to get all the masa harina thoroughly incorporated.
Slowly add in the 3 ½ cups of stock. Mix another 5-15 minutes. Again, you cannot over mix but you can under mix.
Neat test to see if the masa is properly mixed. Take a liberal spoonful and drop it in a glass of water (cold water). If it floats and stays on top, you are ready. If it sinks, add a bit more stock from that last reserved ¼ cup, keep mixing for another 5 or so minutes. Repeat the test. Again, if the ball floats easily, the masa is ready.

Masa can be kept at room temperature 4 plus- hours. It can also be refrigerated for up to 4 days if properly sealed to keep it moist.

Tamale assembly:

Prep:

Cut bison hot dogs into pieces about 3-4” long.
Roast or fry the peppers after seeding them. Cut into 3” strips about the width of the hot dogs
Cut the pepper jack cheese into similar strips so that the peppers, cheese and hot dog all can make up the filling.
Drain the corn shucks and pat dry
There are a huge bunch of You-tube vids on how to put the masa onto the shucks … no reason to repeat that here if you have not done it before. Just a quick search and “boom”; you will have the technique.
With your masa covered shuck, spoon on a scant spoon of your chili; put the hot dog piece on top; the cheese on one side and the pepper pieces on the other.
Now, fold one side of the shuck over the top and press; life the shuck gently and the masa layer should stay down and cover the filling. Lay that first side back down on the table.
Take the other side and fold it over the first layer but leave the shuck in place; roll the tamale over the first side and now you should have an encased bison dog, cheese, chili and pepper tamale. Pat it or gently squeeze; fold the bottom over and ….. start the next one. Just like the You tubes on spreading the masa, there are a bunch on folding the tamales. No reason to repeat here.

Tamale cooking:

I am very much in favor of the Instant Pot … and that is what I used. I put the little spacer plate in the bottom; added about a half cup of water; put a couple of corn husks over the plate to keep the tamales from dropping into the water.
Loaded the tamales … fairly tight but not crammed.
Covered; cooked on high pressure (meat/stew) for 25 minutes. Let it release naturally (which only took about 7 minutes).
Let stand with the top off for another 5 or so minutes to allow the tamales to firm up.
All done! Enjoy!

Things we still have available, I did manage to get some green grinchy socks done, but haven't gotten them on the site yet, and dyed some of the Advantage beanies, have more Red, Blue, and Green...

If I get everything packed up and shipped out today, gonna get comfortable and read a bit, gonna be slightly chilly here this weekend.