TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Kathryn Bandstra couldn't believe her eyes. There, in the middle of U.S. 31, ambled a big, shaggy American bison.

She and her husband approached the beast by car on a recent Sunday. As Bandstra scrambled for her camera, the bison strolled into a Macy's parking lot.

"He was just kind of looking around," she said. "He didn't seem concerned that there were cars around."

Authorities soon corralled the bison and returned it home to a farm a few miles away. They were not sure how he escaped.

Bandstra got some unexpected photos and a good laugh.

"We were joking about him going to Macy's to shop for some back-to-school clothes," she said. "Or maybe he was a religious buffalo coming home from church."


This story was reported by the Traverse City, Mich., Record-Eagle.