‘Tourist gored by bison.’ Yellowstone newbie learns what it’s like to get buffaloed
“Tourist gored by bison”
So read the headline of a newspaper article taped to the cash register of a motor lodge/gas station along Wyoming’s scenic Highway 26, an hour’s drive from Yellowstone National Park.
“Did you cut off the first word of the headline?” I asked the man behind the counter while he rang up my morning coffee and packaged crumb donuts.
“Stupid?” he replied.
We exchanged grins. My mind had formulated the same word. What better adjective to describe someone who puts themselves in harm’s way of an unpredictable 2,000-pound animal with large horns?
The following day I thought back on that exchange while exploring Yellowstone’s Mud Volcano Trail, a half-mile loop of boardwalks and pavement connecting muddy hot springs and fumaroles with colorful names like “Dragon’s Mouth Spring” and “Churning Cauldron.”
Pungent with the sulfuric odor of rotten eggs, it’s the kind of place that reminds you that you’re standing inside the caldera of what geologists call a “supervolcano.” One that could erupt at any moment.
As my girlfriend and I started up the pathway, a fellow tourist heading the opposite way informed us part of the trail was closed due to the presence of a bison. We got there and sure enough. An extremely large, hairy bison stood nearby, as well as a ranger who set up a few traffic cones to keep people from getting too close.
We gawked a little while, then turned around and climbed further up the hillside toward more thermal features. The trail here was much less crowded and when we arrived at a hot spring named “Sour Lake” there was no one else around.
No one, that is, except a bison. Facing our direction and sprawled in the dirt no more than 15 or 20 feet from the wooden railing that didn’t appear all that sturdy.
Even though this particular bison may not have been as large as the one below and its horns less impressive, I had little doubt much damage could’ve been inflicted had it been inclined to do so.
Which was the thought that passed through my mind while my intelligent, well-educated girlfriend leaned out over the railing so she could zoom in her iPhone just a little bit closer.
Along with my smug reaction to a certain newspaper headline I’d seen taped to a cash register.
While the synapses in my sympathetic nervous system fired rapidly, the bison barely seemed to notice our presence. I’ve since learned bison are surprisingly agile creatures capable of running 35 mph at top speed. Thankfully, this one remained lying down.
Pictures snapped, we bid the bison adieu and proceeded up the trail. Just in time to see the same ranger cone off the area where we had been standing a few minutes earlier.
Tourists behaving badly in Yellowstone
This was my first time in Yellowstone National Park. Of course I’d heard the stories about the scenic wonders, abundant wildlife and hordes of summertime human visitors. Turns out all of them are true. Our two-day visit was not complete until we spent an hour and a half in a 8-mile backup of trailers and motor homes — all because two bison were hanging out in view of the roadway.
Going by the headlines, tourists behaving badly tends to be a fairly common occurrence. Just last week, an Illinois woman seen on video getting out of her car and walking toward a grizzly bear and her cubs in May was formally charged with feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife.
Which fell right in line with the California woman who “suffered multiple goring wounds” while trying to take a selfie with a bison. And the Oregon man who got sentenced to 130 days in jail for drunkenly harassing a bison that stopped traffic.
Yellowstone visitors are greeted with ample warning signs that animals within the park are wild and unpredictable. The general rule of thumb is 300 feet away from bears and wolves (you’d think this would be common sense) and about 75 feet away from everything else.
“Every year people are injured when they approach animals too closely, and animals that attack people may need to be killed,” park officials say.
It all sounds pretty straightforward. Of course Yellowstone’s bison, bears, moose, elk, deer, mountain goats and wolves must be given ample space. That is, until you encounter one sitting 20 feet away and can’t resist the siren’s call of a perfect vacation snapshot.
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
