Uncle Dick and Lisa's Old Time Animal Tales

The buffaloes found in the telegraph poles of the overland line a new source of delight on the treeless prairie-the novelty of having something to scratch against. But it is expensive scratching for the telegraph company, and there indeed was the rub, for the bison shook down miles of wire daily. A bright idea struck somebody to send to St. Louis and Chicago for all the bradawls that could be purchased, and these were driven into the poles with a view to wound the animals and check their rubbing propensity. [A bradawl is an awl with a beveled tip used to make holes in wood for brads or screws, The American Heritage Dictionary]Never was a greater mistake. The buffalo were delighted. For the first time they came to the scratch sure of a sensation in their thick hides that thrilled them from head to tail. They would go fifteen miles to find a bradawl. They fought huge battles around the poles containing them, and the victor would probably climb the mountainous heap of the rump and the hump of the fallen and scratch himself into bliss until the bradawl broke, or the pole came down. There has been no demand for bradawls from the Kansas region since the first invoice.