A large herd of Bison in Southwest Florida is getting a tasty treat from Manatee County.
Mixon Fruit Farms in Bradenton is donating its leftover citrus to the new Three Suns Ranch in Punta Gorda. The more than 2,000 bison and their 400 babies that live there are normally only fed grass. They're being given the fruit to improve their health.
The ranchers said they decided to feed the buffalo, who are from the Midwest, citrus after noticing they were acting lethargic.
"A local vet recommended we seek out some orange pulp," the ranch's Rodger Dowdell said.
Dowdell's brother, David Dowdell, who also works at the ranch, said it seems to be working.
"We started to feed them the pulp and, definitely, their energy levels picked right up," he said. "They started to look a lot better."
David Dowdell said it takes a few days for the bison to eat it all, but they seem to like it.
"They'll come and take a piece and off they go," he said. "They just sort of pick at the pile. To them, it's like a piece of candy."
It's a tasty treat the ranchers said will have no impact on the taste of the meat.
"People have joked about it," Rodger Dowdell said. "But at the end of day, it's not a big percentage of diet. They eat mostly grass."
Rodger Dowdell said they started the buffalo ranch, which sits on 5,700 acres of property, to help people live a healthier lifestyle. He said the meat from their bison is not only tasty, but also very nutritious.
"It's grass fed-bison," said Rodger. "It's 100 percent grass fed. There's no grain or corn or anything else. They're in their natural environment as much as possible."
The Three Suns Ranch expects to start selling bison meat in July.
The meat will be available at restaurants and grocery stores across the Southwest Florida region.