American bison

The American bison is both an uncertain possibility in Ish’s thoughts about wildlife after the disaster and an animal that a traveler reports seeing. The scattered references suggest its presence, but offer no evidence of a broad or secure return.

Possible Return

While playing music, Ish wonders whether deer and antelope are roaming the old range country, or whether cattle or buffalo have returned. The bison enters this thought as one possibility among several, not as a confirmed sighting: Ish is imagining how the landscape might be changing beyond his immediate view.

Reported Sightings

Later, Ish asks Richard whether he encountered large brown animals with humps on their shoulders. Richard says that he once saw a few. His answer establishes that bison were present somewhere along the travelers’ journey, but the account gives neither a precise location nor evidence of a substantial herd.

Significance

The two references hold possibility and scarcity together. Ish’s question imagines the bison as part of a changing, less human-shaped landscape; Richard’s report makes that return concrete but limited. The evidence confirms a few sightings, while leaving the animal’s wider recovery unresolved.