Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam: Couple share their house with TWO giant beasts (and they even catch a lift in the family car)
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 11:25 GMT, 23 May 2012 | UPDATED: 12:09 GMT, 23 May 2012
Have you herd the one about the couple who live with two buffaloes? Here are the pictures to prove it.
RC Bridges, nicknamed 'The Buffalo Whisperer' and his wife Sherron, share their Texas home with 2,400lbs Wildthing and recent 900lbs arrival Bullet.
Both are still growing, and could reach up to 11ft tall and weigh as much as 2,500lbs.
Wacky: RC Bridges, nicknamed 'The Buffalo Whisperer' and his wife Sherron, share their Texas home with 2,400lbs Wildthing and recent 900lbs arrival Bullet
Nice headwear: Sherron certainly knows how to make her pets feel at home, by sporting a buffalo hat complete with horns
Fancy a lift? The animals are part of the family, seen in this picture jumping in the back of the pick-up truck
The couple are seen relaxing in their lounge with one of the huge beasts, and in another photograph one buffalo tries to climb on to the family car.
Wildthing, who is seven-years-old, acted as the best man when his owners renewed their wedding vows in 2006, after five years of marriage.
RC, 63, said: 'He carried the rings on his horns and threw them off one at a time for us to catch.' RC, who is a cowboy and horse trainer, has worked with buffaloes most of his life.
After losing an eye in 2004 he had to sell his herd - except for one young male, Wildthing, who he decided to keep as a pet.
His photographer wife Sherron, 39, who is part Native American and makes traditional-style clothes and headdresses using the animals' hair, said: 'We love our buffaloes. I think if either one of them died, RC would probably go along with them.'
Helping out in the garden: The buffalo take part in all kinds of tasks around the house, including a spot of lawn-mowing
How much is that buffalo in the window? Sherron looks on as her beasts meander outside (left) and check out their decorations (right)
All creatures great and small: The two buffalo take up most of the living room when they decided to be indoors
Bullet, a female, who is three-and-a-half years old, still hasn't been potty trained, or become familiar with the family's pet wolf, Jewell Spirit. She was given to the couple after her previous owner found her too hard to control.
RC said: 'Her owner told me if I could catch her, I could have her. She kept getting out of the pen and the sheriff's department was mad about it. Well, I just caught her, put her in a trailer and brought her home.'
Buffaloes can be very dangerous animals. Their curved, sharp horns are two feet long, and lethal, and they are able to run as fast as 40mph.
RC said: 'I knew they were crazy animals but it actually turned out way better than I thought it would be. I always dreamed of training a buffalo, but I never thought about training two.
Little and large: The buffalo seem to have integrated well into the family
Playful: RC said the buffalo were 'like his buddies'
Warm welcome: RC said that the presence of the buffaloes did not put off friends from coming around
'They're like my buddies. Bullet likes to be with me at all times, she'll even give up food to be close to me.' RC, who insists his friends and relatives still visit the family home, added: 'They're not afraid to come over because I keep everything safe.
'But most of them think I'm going to get hurt or killed. I don't think you can ever take all of the wildness out of the buffaloes, though. I've been hurt a lot, so I guess its just part of the game.'
Beauty and the beast: But it's at times like this when RC realises the true strength of his pets
Magical: The couple live in a splendidly triangular house in Texas
Nevertheless, the couple's two grown-up children, son Will and daughter Taylor, are proud of the family pets and have even broken world records with them.
RC said: 'My son was the first person to ever ski behind a buffalo - on water skies and on sand. My daughter was the first person to ever snow sled behind a buffalo.'
Make yourself at home: The buffaloes pictured sniffing around the living room