[Villages Kahuna]

The Savannah Center was jammed tonight to hear a presentation by Mark Morse, President and CEO of The Villages. The main auditorium was filled, as was the other large room which was set up with a video/audio feed of the speech.

Morse is a young man, about early forties, and I think he's probably the grandson of Harold Schwartz. His Dad, I think is Gary Morse, former CEO and now the non-executive Chairman of the Board of The Villages (technically, The Villages of Lake Sumter, Inc.). The youngr Morse arrived on stage in blue jeans and a casual shirt, looking like he had just spent the day deeloping land and building houses, which is exactly what he probably did. His presentation was compete and very upbeat.

I won't go into a lot of detail other than the disappointing news that we all may have seen the last of our beloved buffalo. Morse explained that in spite of many, many warnings there had been three human-buffalo "incidents" in the last month and that the decision had been made to remove the buffalo to a place where there would be no interaction with humans. He said that The Villages simply could no longer risk the liability that resulted from the close proximity of humans to wild animals. Morse explained that the entire herd would be moved to "the north 40" within the next few days, presumably never to be seen within our community again.

Sad news. Sad...sad...

[chelsea24]

Really? What does that mean human-buffalo incidents? I'm very sorry to hear this. Please explain what happened? Thanks. ???

[samhass]

That is sad. Why couldn't people just watch them from a distance??? I love to drive by them but have never tried to "interact" with them. It's neat to drive visitors by the pastures and show them the grazing herd. Rats.

[chuckinca]

Why not get rid of the Gators first?

[Wannabee]

We visited TV in January and were awed by the beautiful buffalos. My husband walked up to one and it nearly jumped over the fence at him! No where was it posted to stay away. In fact we were under the impression that everyone fed them carrots. I guess I won't be very popular but I for one am glad to see them go, I think they could be very dangerous :'(

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by Wannabee

We visited TV in January and were awed by the beautiful buffalos. My husband walked up to one and it nearly jumped over the fence at him! No where was it posted to stay away. In fact we were under the impression that everyone fed them carrots. I guess I won't be very popular but I for one am glad to see them go, I think they could be very dangerous :'(

Unfortunately, your situation was probably not too unique. And I don't mean to criticize you husband's actions. Everybody gets super close to them all the time. There are some signs and periodic warning, but people continue to feed them (they do love carrots) and even hold tinyish kids over the fence to feed the nice little buffalo. And they have been industrial strength adorable of late since the calves arrived. I mean, how cute can they possibly be. I too hate to see them go, and hopefully there is no financial reason beyond the stated cause for this action. I'd like to see them (CDD, developer, family, whoever?) possibly look into alternatives, like a double fence that might keep the feckless humans at a safe distance from the buffalo.

As to Chuck's suggestion about the gators, evidently even our dumbest residents and guest don't try to feed or ride the gators and give them plenty of room. Maybe they could pen the buffalo in an inner corral surrounded by a gator filled moat or wetlands. The only problem would be that you'd have to throw a zebra into the moat occasionally to keep the gagtors from eating the buffalo.

[Lil Dancer]

I too will miss the buffalo, but I understand the liability issues. One perk for the developer, is that moving the buffalo will leave the large fields where the buffalo grazed, (free for more development?). Maybe this is the time, if the residents have thoughts about how they'd like to see the land developed, to get their ideas out there.

As large as The Villages will be at full build-out, I notice that one thing that seems to be missing from the plan is a large park. Something with walking trails, a tranquil place away from all the traffic and hubub. I don't know if anyone else is interested in that type of thing, but I wish they would consider taking some of the buffalo acreage and turn it into a park.

[Villages Kahuna]

When the buffalo are moved to a safer location, that will leave some pretty significant and well-located chunks of property available for "something". No mention was was made of that. But Mark Morse did present some pretty amazing statistics that he seemed quite proud of--I read that as something that's unlikely to change. He stated in his presentation that fully 45% of the total 20,000+ acres in The Villages has been devoted to open space, wildlife refuges, wetlands, etc. In fact, he specifically noted that a wetland-wildlife area planned near the new Brownwood town center was going to be "spectacular".

[jadebox]

So sad the buffalo will leave. The buffalo were moved around throughout TV. When a site was going to be built on they were moved to another spot. I hated when they were moved from El Camino Real to make way for Freedon Point.

[Donna]

We always parked and watched them graze..What a shame they are leaving...Amazing animals

[Rokinronda]

I am sorry to see them go, also. I tried to warn people a while ago about their strength and the probability of a human-buffalo incident. A second fence could have prevented the incidents. The mom buffalos instinct is to protect the baby buffalo. I was thrilled to see the babies, but did not go near the fence. I did not want Mom buffalo upset. I sure hope the land isn't developed. Aren't there enough places to shop??!!

That's too bad. Thought the lawyers might win and manage to get the buffalo moved to another location because of liability concerns.

[Donna]

Ronda,
Every time we passed by, John would comment he hoped they would not build where these animals roamed..I sure hope not..
How can people think they could just stop and feed wild animals...There were many times we saw children feeding them carrots..

[nONIE]

One of the most amazing attractions of "The Villages" was the buffalo. Visitors as residents alike were facinated with these huge beasts. Couldnt these incidents been avoided with large and obvious warning signs? I am so sorry to see them go.

Unless the pasture land is deemed for development wouldnt it be nice to see minature horses in their place? They are really fun to watch and they are by nature rather sweet and docile. The kids would love them as well as the adults.(Just a thought)

[Donna]

Noni,
Mini horses would be adorable, but there is also liability with those..You will get people trying to sue if the horse sneezes on them..