Can't be stupid near a buffalo herd

Smoke said:
View attachment 766291Tourists in Yellowstone are stupid.

They have this thing in Yellowstone they call a Bear Jam. I've actually been in one. A tourist sees a bear on the side of the road and stops to take pictures and then other tourists stops and then other tourist stops and then another tourist stops and pretty soon the road is blocked.

So my bear Jam was on the east side of the park by Cody Wyoming. I watched a woman and her two older than 5 younger than 10 children get out of their car and walk up to where the bear was to take pictures. They were probably 20 ft away from the bear photographing it. Nothing happened they took their pictures, they walked away and lived to be stupid another day.

So according to this book there was one bear Jam in Yellowstone at which, according to one of the Rangers, a tourist got out of his car walked across the field and put his hand on a grizzly bear's ass.

The ranger came up behind him and said "You are doing something very stupid and you are about to die. You need to back away from the Bear right now."

The guy listened to her and believe it or not he lived.

I think they should take all the warning labels off of everything in Yellowstone and let nature sort itself out
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I was in a bear jam in Yellowstone while riding in the back of a pickup with a shell camper, no window and no tailgate on the camper shell. With 2 friends driving, I and another teenager could only guess what the reason for the stop was. Cars piling up behind us, we could see the passengers in these cars ohh and ahhing. Then around the corner came the reason, a decent sized black bear who proceeded to try to crawl into the truck bed with us, as we had a camping gear and food inside with us. One thing for certain, it wasn't just my future daughters that scream like little girls.
 
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My father was working one day and headed back to his state pickup. As he got to the truck, something rushed out of the brush at him. It was a badger. Compared to the fairly foul tempered badgers you see in videos, this guy was truly upset. It was hissing and charging him, so he jumped in the bed of the truck. He didn't have anything in the bed with him to fight it and he didn't feel like going mano a mano with a pissed off badger. He spent an hour and a half trying to figure out how to get to the cab without losing all his flesh below his hip. Finally, the damn thing wandered off, and dad got in the truck and got out of there as fast as he could. From then on, he kept a lead filled wooden tire thumper in the bed of his truck.
 
My real reaction to people that dumb would get me a point or twelve. There are all kinds of dangerous ways to get hurt by stupidity in Yellowstone (seen them) and probably every other part of the national park system.

The tour bus driver mentioned earlier failed in his/her duty to protect the tourists by allowing them to get off and be dumb. And I can't blame the ranger for not doing anything but watch. Any effort he made to un(screw) the problem would probably be pointless. And all you get for trying to communicate the danger and get people safe would result in whining that he "yelled at them". I've experienced that in LE. Most of the time it is not worth it to protect people from themselves. The least bad outcome is that they stare as if you are a two headed goat.

Simple case: look at my profile pic. Bozo was (Rott and) half Fila and while great with us, was "genetically intolerant" of strangers (really mean). We walked him in a muzzle for the protection of others (and our legal exposure). I worked hard to communicate with others and find out which they wanted to go and then stay out of their way. The number who didn't think I was serious, or were wearing earbuds in public (an act which makes me go full Ermey) and whined about me "yelling at them" solidified my hatred for the general public. How dumb do you have to be to not appreciate the reason for the very visible muzzle?
 
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lihpster said:
My father was working one day and headed back to his state pickup. As he got to the truck, something rushed out of the brush at him. It was a badger. Compared to the fairly foul tempered badgers you see in videos, this guy was truly upset. It was hissing and charging him, so he jumped in the bed of the truck. He didn't have anything in the bed with him to fight it and he didn't feel like going mano a mano with a pissed off badger. He spent an hour and a half trying to figure out how to get to the cab without losing all his flesh below his hip. Finally, the damn thing wandered off, and dad got in the truck and got out of there as fast as he could. From then on, he kept a lead filled wooden tire thumper in the bed of his truck.
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I'd sooner cross a bear than a badger. I'd sooner cross my wife than a badger
 
steelslaver said:
Well here it is June 11tth and it is just the beginning of goring season is starting out well. Already up to 2 morons. One yesterday and one a month ago. It really amazes me, Put up signs, put it on TV and yet some dimbulbs will still try their luck. Saw a video of a woman actually pat one on the head. I on the other hand wouldn't do that with a "domestic" bull or even most cows. Hey they weigh 1200 lb or more and the reasoning power of your average congress man and are almost as dangerous. "Domestic" cattle are responsible for about 22 deaths a year. Bison have to contend with each other as well as wolves and bears. It is such a great idea to all gather around some and act like complete idiots until they either panic and run over us or one of them decides he has had enough of us.
www.nps.gov

Man gored by bison June 10 in Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov www.nps.gov
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I always root for the wildlife. :cool:
 

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65-2x2 said:
My daughter lives in Anchorage and the problem up there is idiots trying to pet Moose. Apparently they are mean as hell and will disembowel people with their hooves. She lives in town, and has sent many photos of Moose in her yard. They just ain't Bullwinkle.
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I learned how cantankerous and ornery they are when I took a boundary waters canoe trip many years ago. The moose were oftentimes more dangerous than the black bears.

I also learned from my Grandfather, who had a dairy farm, to never stop respecting the animals. The lesson was simple, they could turn on you in a second, or if spooked could hurt you badly if you were in their escape path. Cows are nowhere near as dangerous as bison. Aside from the herd bulls. The older they got, the more ornery they tended to be.

I remember the one bull, whom I fed as a calf, that tried to kill me as an adult. He wanted to stomp me to death. He was in a sturdy enclosure, and there was no danger, but that helped hammer the lesson into me to not treat livestock as friendly animals.

Wild animals are even more unpredictable than domesticated ones.
 
The las time I was at Yellowstone I watched as a Japanese father lined up his wife and two children next to a buffalo calf for a "kodak Moment." I don't know where the calves mother was, but I didn't stay around to see the outcome!
 
Last time I was up close to a Bison was in 2023 at Antelope Island State Park in Utah adjacent to the Great Salt Lake. They are huge animals, and I was only willing to shoot this photo from the car window. There are lots of warnings in the park to leave these animals alone.

Bison.jpg
 
Water buffalo are apprently safer:

Roaming water buffalo herd corralled after stroll through the streets of Surrey BC

website-size28.jpg;w=960;h=640;bgcolor=000000

If you saw a large herd of water buffalo roaming the streets in Fleetwood or Port Kells today, you were not dreaming...

"They swam through the culvert under 176 and went for a leisurely walk up to 168th. We had witnesses calmly follow until they got spooked and ran up the road,"

...They are gentle, curious animals. All those involved in the physical round up are very familiar with the herd,"
 
A lifetime ago my 13 year old brother learned the hard way that teasing a buffalo was a bad idea. We were at the town zoo in Alamogordo NM and they had a buffalo behind a chain link fence. My brother hung on the fence and swung it back and forth and that buffalo suddenly turned, charged and hit him squarely in the chest right through the chain link. When he finally caught his breath and got up my brother was a different kid. What hurts, teaches.
 
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