RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA : 5 Buffalo Back Home on Range

For five days, five buffalo that had wandered away from their corral roamed around the tract homes of Rancho Santa Margarita, drawing posses of would-be cowboys and sending some residents scurrying for safety and others for cameras.

The buffalo hunt ended Sunday when one of the herd’s owners, John Tice, drove the five back to their corral in Holy Jim Canyon, animal control officials said. The roundup was a day too late for county animal control officials, however--they had cited John Tice on Saturday on five counts of illegal grazing.

The five buffalo had stampeded Wednesday, breaking out of their wooden-fenced corral after having been spooked by a mountain lion, said Sgt. Brian Frick of the county Animal Control Division.

Residents reported that several would-be cowboys on horses and in vans had tried to lasso the animals and that some residents wanted to have their pictures taken with the beasts safely in the background.

The situation left animal-control officers wondering whether they should impound the 1,200-pound beasts.

“It’s difficult getting five buffalo in a trailer and then driving them around” to find a corral, Frick said.

Animal-control officials said their decision to cite Tice was apparently the best course, because the animals were returned to their corral Sunday.

Tice was not available for comment. His father, Joe Tice, said he and his son bought the herd a few years ago as an investment.

“They were a kind of novelty,” said Joe Tice, who also keeps about 70 head of cattle on 1,000 acres near Cook’s Corner. “We thought they would have some kind of value someday.” But Tice added that the buffalo have failed to multiply as fruitfully as he and his son had hoped.

Frick said Monday that he was pleased that the buffalo were finally secure behind fences, but he noted that the five who had escaped were gentle creatures. He jumped into their corral Monday and petted a young cow that ate hay from his hand.

“They are such magnificent animals,” Frick said. “It’s too bad that many people don’t get to enjoy their beauty.”