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Posted by Ballpark Frank (66.58.236.31) on 12:28:47 10/31/12
In Reply to: An account of a bison tossing posted by Roadie
Roadie,
I'm betting that the visitor would have been OK if he had not gotten up in close proximity to the bison. Like most critters, including bears, bison don't take kindly to being surprised/startled at close range.
The spooky part, and it's one that would be difficult to communicate to the millions of annual visitors, is the fact that bison have their own trails, and they are rather insistent about using them. One obvious question is "how do you tell a bison trail from a human trail?" I have no answer for that. Up high, on Specimen Ridge, you have that area where hikers confuse bison trails for the human trail. I did it the first time I went up there, because the bison trail is more obvious. Since bison also use human trails, the presence or absence of bison pies is not useful.
The one rule which would have served this visitor well, were he to observe it, is to maintain a distance of 25 yards or more from wildlife. We know that the NPS has reinterpreted that rule in recent years to put the responsibility on the humans. Humans have the responsibility to maintain the distance, even if the animal moves toward them.
One other comment I would make has to do with the phenomenon of great numbers of people making bold assumptions in commenting on the incident. This is the new world we all find ourselves in. There was a time when only newsworthy public figures, like celebrities and political leaders, were subject to widespread feedback. Now, anyone that makes the news is exposed to a wide range of feedback from people they have never met. For those who are sensitive to rampant criticism, the best solution may be to close the feedback loops. This is not new news to those who frequent bulletin boards and chat pages, but for the uninitiated, it can be quite a revelation. For adolescents, this is one additional social pressure they are exposed to. Cyber-bullying is very real, and very scary!
File this under "I'm posting and I can't shut up": Years ago, maybe in 2003 or 2004, a group of us were embarking on the traditional Fall Color Walk. We had parked at the Blacktail Deer Creek trailhead, and were heading north on the trail. We left the trail just before the hill with the exclosures, planning to head up onto the south end of Mt. Everts. As we meandered across that meadowy slope, we observed a small herd of bison off to our left. They started moving from west to east, single file, on a course that would intersect our route. We maintained our pace for a while, until it became obvious that we would collide with this bunch of bulls if we kept going. We stopped, hoping they did not have malicious intent. We were relieved to see them continue on, maintaining their leisurely pace. Once they had gotten well past our route, we resumed our progress. When we got to where their route intersected ours, we noticed a pronounced bison trail, almost reminiscent of the one just west of Trout Creek that intersects the old road. That new knowledge served me well on the numerous forays into western Hayden Valley that started in that same era. There is one central truth. Bison ALWAYS have the right-of-way!
Ballpark
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