WI Buffalo were Vicious

[NapoleonXIV]

WI American Buffalo had slightly different habits. They remain in vast herds but they have the disposition of wart hogs crossed with rhinos. They flee from nothing and they do not cluster together when being shot, instead, they attack run down and kill anything that seems to threaten them or even comes near.

How does this affect the Amerinds before Columbus? How does it affect the settlers who come in the 19thc?

[Norman]

First, people would approach entering dark wood much more carefully, because the Eastern Forest Bison (there were never very many, and they are now gone), would have attacked.

Second, there would have been many fewer indians.

Third, think of the predators that would have evolved to prey on the Bison (from the nature abhors a vacuum perspective). They would have been extremely sneaky, wiley, and probably very fast.

[David Howery]

I can imagine buffalo that are more aggressive (like their African counterparts), but no herd species will run out and attack anything in sight.. that's a poor survival trait. If they were going to be that aggressive, the buffalo themselves might look different... bigger horns? The native Americans could make good use of such aggressiveness. In OTL, they stampeded buffalo over cliffs. Here, they would have to provoke the buffalo into a charge, so I imagine they'd make use of covered pits. Buffalo wouldn't be quite so much a resource to them, but I imagine that the natives would find ways to kill them more or less safely... humans are always pretty good about that....

[blysas]

If they were to last longer then it seems if we are careful then we won't make them excinict. Also they would be more useful to the farmer, the bufallo are animals that can defend themselfs while at the same time eat.

[Saladin]

I believe that vicious versions of Bison are called Cape Buffalo, and they kill more people each year than all of the major carnivore killers!

Yes, technically I know that Cape Buffalo aren't identical, but they are close and the behaviour is what you want :)