News Story:
Cowboy State Daily – Bison Goring Season In Full Swing: Two Attacks In Two States In Three Days
I have been gone for a couple of weeks to spend time with my family and to relax. While away the news of politics and tourons did not stop. I was tempted a number of times to blog about various things while gone, but I wanted to make sure to spend my time with my family and fought that idea. Besides, coming back and sure enough there is plenty to write about. Trying to start out a little light compared to how I normally would start, I choose to write about the linked story of two different bison attacks. I choose this story because it shows the difference between a touron and a smart tourist.
That said, I will say that I am only writing this as a way to show people that wildlife is unpredictable. That even when you do the right things, wildlife may still go bad. I don’t know the status of either woman in the sorry and pray that each makes a full recovery.
In the first case that the news story covers, a couple of people were walking down a trail in Yellowstone and saw two bison in the way. Understanding the danger that was in front of them, they turned around and started walking back. Sadly, one of the bison saw them and took their actions as a threat, and charged after them. The bison then gored and threw the woman. The woman suffered severe injuries and was life-flighted to an Idaho Hospital. According to the story, these people did exactly what is recommended people to do if a bison or other wildlife in Yellowstone are blocking the path of any trail, yet the bison still felt threatened in some form and attacked.
In the second case in the story, a woman in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota was attacked after approaching a group of bison near the Painted Canyon Nature Trail. In this case, the bison attacked so severely that the injuries the woman suffered were critical, and in a worsening condition before being transferred to a local hospital. One of the injuries the woman suffered was degloving of someplace on her body. A degloving is an injury where the skin of the person is completely removed from the bone and tendons of the body. The bison also stomped this woman while she was on the ground. In this case, it appears from the witnesses of the attack that the woman did not turn around and try to remove themselves from the dangers of the bison.
In both cases, it shows how dangerous and unpredictable a wild animal can be. At any moment an animal can deem a person to be a danger to it, its herd, or its offspring. In the story, an expert believes the situation may have been due to the bull bison being in rut or mating season. Bison are not the only species of animals that go into rut, deer, moose, and antelope also go into rut and become more aggressive. Regardless, all animals will protect themselves and their offspring when people are nearby.
The main point of this story is to highlight and educate those people that don’t normally enter into areas where wildlife is, to use extreme caution and give wildlife plenty of distance. These animals are not the cute and cuddling animals you see in movies or TV. They have absolutely no care for your safety or life.
Below is a video of the power of bull bison during a rut. Note that a bison weighs between 1,000 – 2,200 lbs for a male and 790 – 1,200 lbs for a female. The average weight of a subcompact car is 2,600 – 3,000 lbs.
