养只野牛作宠物

GUY RAZ, host: We end this hour with special thanks to the Edmonton Journal. That's where we first read this little story about a really big pet. Now, imagine a cowboy and a buffalo walk into a bar...

(SOUNDBITE OF DRUM)

RAZ: No, really. Seriously, a cowboy and a buffalo regularly walk into a bar in Alberta, Canada. The man's name is Jim Sautner. The buffalo is 1,900-pound Bailey, Jr. Sautner and his wife, Linda, bottle-fed Bailey, Jr. as a baby buffalo and now consider him a member of the family. He's allowed in the house. He and Jim often travel together in the family Pontiac convertible. They even frequent the local watering hole.

Well, I spoke to Jim Sautner from his home today and he told me that, when Bailey, Jr. was little, just 40 or 50 pounds, he had the run of the house.

JIM SAUTNER: When we went to bed, he'd come up into the bedroom and basically stay with us and, sometimes, he'd jump on the bed and, of course, that didn't work very well, generally. And as he got bigger, he kept taking too many blankets, so we had to ask him to move outside.

RAZ: And you actually let him in the house, right?

SAUTNER: Well, let's put it this way. How are you going to stop an 1,800-pound buffalo from going where he wants to go? You know – yeah, we open the door and he comes in and he'll lay down in the front room and watch TV and...

RAZ: What does he like to watch?

SAUTNER: Well, the nature things with David Suzuki is about the only thing I let him watch nowadays on TV.

RAZ: Right.

SAUTNER: I didn't want to corrupt his mind.

RAZ: Yeah. That's a wholesome program.

SAUTNER: He's only three years old.

RAZ: Yeah, I hear you. He's house trained? He doesn't, you know, cause any damage in the house?

SAUTNER: It took a bit of work to get over that, but he's relatively calm in the house. He's very curious. He'll go to the clothes closet and smell every individual coat and he knows, you know, from the smell whether it's mine or Linda's or...

RAZ: So it sounds like that whole bull in the China shop thing is - that's basically a myth, right?

SAUTNER: No. He's been into a China shop and he's been into jewelry stores and...

RAZ: Oh, he's actually been inside a China shop and he has not broken anything?

SAUTNER: No, he hasn't.

RAZ: Oh.

SAUTNER: We actually...

RAZ: A buffalo in a China shop.

SAUTNER: Yeah. We actually took him in the bank one day to make a deposit. Unfortunately, the deposit came out the wrong end and we had to leave. Needless to say, I don't have my bank account there anymore.

RAZ: Jim, you have actually adapted your Pontiac Parisienne convertible to accommodate Bailey, Jr., right? He actually rides around with you in the convertible?

SAUTNER: Oh, yeah, he does. We took the backseat out and then we took the passenger seat out, so he gets in there and stands on the passenger's side and we go cruising down the road.

RAZ: You actually have a dog, too, a cocker spaniel. What's the dog's name?

SAUTNER: Charlie Brown.

RAZ: Yeah. What does Charlie Brown think of all of this? I mean, does he get jealous?

SAUTNER: No. When we do parades and stuff, he thinks it's all about him. He doesn't...

RAZ: I got it.

SAUTNER: ...know Bailey's there, so you know, when I got Bailey with me, I'll tell Charlie - Charlie, give Bailey a kiss. And he'll run over and jump up and give him a kiss on the nose.

RAZ: Aw. Jim, I mentioned earlier that you and Bailey, Jr. go to - you to the bar. You actually go drinking. He's your drinking buddy.

SAUTNER: Yes, he is. Sometimes, I take him in the car and go into the local bar here and, some days, he'll drink a beer, but some days, he has a root beer instead, like especially when he's driving. I got him as a designated driver, so you know, I got to keep him sober to drive that car.

RAZ: Well, Jim Sautner, thank you so much.

SAUTNER: Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you.

RAZ: That's Jim Sautner talking about his pet buffalo, Bailey, Jr. They hang out a lot together in Alberta, Canada. Now, if your first response, like ours, was disbelief, check out the photos we have at our website, NPR.org.