DEATH WISH: Yellowstone Tourist Challenges a Bison

A Bison Isn't Known for Conflict Resolution Skills

Has a stranger ever crouched into your face when you were eating? You probably wouldn’t sock them, but you wouldn’t be pleased. If the stranger stuck a camera in your face, then you might push back.

We’ve been socialized. An animal the size of a small pickup truck, not so much.

One of the latest Yellowstone touron stories focuses on some nitwit who got into the face of a bison. This just days after another dimwit got tossed by one of the animals.

READ MORE: Tourist Gets Up Close

How steep is the learning curve of the average tourist?

UNSPLASH! Photo by Jonathan Mast on Unsplash

The Idiot Meter is Being Pegged

I realize that we live in a part of the country where large and sometimes angry critters are common, and that makes us aware of the dangers. Still, whenever I speak to a guest from Fish and Game on-air, I bring it up, because people need to hear again and again that harassing wildlife is dangerous.

Then I’ll read a story about some guy who reached into a tiger cage at a zoo and lost an arm.

Some of these stunts involve alcohol, and others are a desire to get a picture of yourself in the shot. Is a couple of likes on Facebook worth getting gored? You’ll get attention! Your name will be splashed all over the Internet, or on a headstone.

Big Furry Animals the Size of Trucks Should be Handled with Care

Maybe we can understand the tourists from back east and from foreign countries, but there are signs issuing warnings, and many simply offer a universal symbol that screams ‘NO’ for visitors who don’t speak English.

Dare we say it? A bison has many purposes in the grand scheme of the universe. One appears to be cleaning up the human gene pool.