Don't Do This, Tourist Unwisely Sneaks Up on Yellowstone Bison

Everyone does something dumb at least once in their life. That's part of being human. However, sometimes we see people do things so inexplicably dumb that it defies all normal logic. Things that should have been baked into our brains back when we were still mastering fire and living in caves hundreds of thousands of years ago. If you don't believe me, just visit Yellowstone National Park for one day during the summer months. I guarantee you'll be wondering how some people remember to breathe before lunchtime. When you first drive through the gates of this gorgeous national park, you're greeted by rangers who will warn you to stay far away from the wildlife, especially the bison that are so numerous and common throughout the park.

However, every year we get incidents like this video. Watch as this tourist inexplicably decides to approach too close to a bison. Not only does he get too close, he decides to SNEAK UP on the animal from behind where it can't see him. It's a bad idea, and you can guess what happens next when the buffalo detects his personal space being invaded.

That bison whirled around quickly and made sure this guy quickly backed off. The tourist was lucky this was just a warning. There was no way this guy could have outrun the bison at that distance had it decided this guy was worth chasing down. He could have easily been seriously injured or even killed with one hook from those big horns and a stomp from the hooves.

It's not that the National Park Service doesn't try their best. In addition to instructions to stay away from the animals, they even give you a printed pamphlet pointedly explaining the dangers with visual diagrams on safe viewing distances! Sadly, it doesn't seem to matter. For far too many people, common sense goes right out the window the second they see wildlife. People seem to think Yellowstone is one giant zoo when in fact it's a large, dangerous ecosystem filled with creatures that can maim or kill a human without a second thought.

The NPS asks visitors to stay 25 yards away from large herbivores like bison, elk, deer, moose, and sheep, and 100 yards from predators like bears and wolves. Please heed this advice if you're heading into the park this summer. We don't want to see anyone become another tally on the bison's yearly count of gored tourists.

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