Is it just me or does it feel like every year the stories of bison and human interactions increase. Spoiler alert — it rarely ends well for the humans. However although the stories of bison gorings seem to be increasing they may not be exactly what you are picturing. Here is the truth about bison gorings and why they keep happening.
The Truth About Bison Gorings: What Are They?
Image via Shutterstock
This is one of those situations where a name or phrase can be misleading. When you hear the term goring in relation to a bison a specific image probably comes to mind. I assume you are probably imagining a horn piercing right through someone. Sorry if that is graphic, but that is what a "goring" would be. However, more often than not, that is not what is happening in these attacks.
Instead, Cowboy State Daily shares that "Most bison 'goring' attacks involve massive blunt force trauma, not people getting skewered by horns in the torso." Although that sounds like a relief, people can still be seriously injured by these blunt force trauma attacks. In fact, the damage that a bison can cause to you when they collide with you is similar to the trauma you sustain from a serious car accident.
More often than not, people suffer from broken bones or crushed organs due to the blunt force trauma of the bison ramming into their body. If they do get pierced by a horn it is more often than not in their buttocks region. That is simply because people begin to run in an attempt to flee the bison, and as the bison lowers their head to charge them, their horn pierces their behind.
Different Types Of Attacks
Although bison are not intentionally goring people they are still injuring people. Cowboy State Daily shares that while the overwhelming majority of people survive these attacks they still end up nursing serious injuries. Imagine, first you get rammed by a massive bison head, which sends you flying through the air. Then you suffer the harsh impact of colliding with the ground. It is no wonder people suffer broken bones and crushed organs.
If you are seriously unlucky, the bison won't leave after they toss you into the air like a rag doll. Instead they will finish you off with a stomp move. Dr. Kirk Bollinger, who works at Cody Regional Health, shared the horrors of that. He said, "Bison stomping can cause horrific internal injuries, including such things as lacerations to the liver or severe damage to the spleen." This can also cause things like internal bleeding or bruising of the lungs.
Why Do These Attacks Keep Happening?
Shutterstock Image
So what is happening here? Do bison just have it out for us? The simple answer is no. Bison do not wake up in the morning and think to themselves "how many people can I attack today?" So then what makes bison gorings so frequent? The simple and truthful answer is people's stupidity. In a way this is good news — if it is our fault that means it should be easily remedied.
The majority of bison gorings, attacks, bashing — whatever you want to call them — occur because people do not respect the wild animals' personal space. National parks share warnings and have posted signs detailing how far you should stay away from these animals, yet people assume they know best. If you get too close to a wild animal, it can feel threatened and then it will attack. It truly is simple logic. So the next time you get a wild idea to get close to a bison ask yourself this question: Is an Instagram post worth crushed bones and organs?
