Tag: Bison

Yellowstone motorcyclists caught on video disturbing bison

Two Yellowstone National Park tourists pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of harassing wildlife by riding motorcycles off-road near grazing bison.

Two Yellowstone National Park tourists pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of harassing wildlife by riding motorcycles off-road near grazing bison.

According to a park spokesman, Dallin McAllister, 25, and Tyler McAllister, 36, were cited for approaching and disturbing wildlife, and operating motor vehicles in a prohibited area.

The McAllister brothers, from Utah and Arizona, were cited after the incident, which occurred Friday afternoon near Fountain Flats. A court proceeding will be scheduled for fall.

Meanwhile, Viral Hog has published video footage captured Friday, showing two motorcycle riders off-road amid several wary bison, including calves.

RELATED: Bison fight halts traffic on Yellowstone road

Yellowstone would not state if the riders in the footage, in fact, were the McAllisters. However, the spokesman told For The Win Outdoors that the footage published by Viral Hog “is the correlated video of this incident.”

Viewers of the video will note that the motorcycle riders were off-road in a pasture  – one with a passenger – while several bison became skittish and ran from the riders.

One of the men can be seen reaching over his handlebars as if trying to touch a fleeing bison.

A woman, clearly angered, can be heard yelling, “Get out of the field!” and “Get out of there!”

Yellowstone is home to nearly 5,000 bison. The animals, which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, are unpredictable and surprisingly quick, capable of running in bursts up to 30 mph.

In June, a 72-year-old woman was gored multiple times by a bison after she repeatedly approached the animals.

Yellowstone guidelines require tourists to remain at least 25 yards from bison at all times, but these rules are routinely ignored by some.

Yellowstone advises tourists that they’re responsible for their own safety, and for understanding park rules.

–Images are courtesy of Viral Hog

Dynastic team latest college football team to move focus to spring football

Plenty of college football teams and conferences have already punted on the idea of competitive football this fall and moved their focus to the spring of 2021. The Big Ten, Pac-12, MAC and Mountain West all postponed football this fall and now one …

Plenty of college football teams and conferences have already punted on the idea of competitive football this fall and moved their focus to the spring of 2021. The Big Ten, Pac-12, MAC and Mountain West all postponed football this fall and now one of the great dynasties in the college game has officially joined that list.

North Dakota State has dominated the D1 FCS series, winning eight of the last nine championships in the division. Despite some rumors and hopes by fans that they’d find a way to play this fall, those hopes for the Bison are officially done, the team announced Friday.

The Bison has reached out to Nebraska hoping to set up a game this fall but that obviously won’t be happening.

Bison quarterback Trey Lance is viewed by many as a potential first round draft pick next spring.

Many were excited and curious to see how the Bison would fare as they had an early September road game scheduled at Oregon this season.

Bison rips off woman’s pants in violent attack at Custer State Park

Videos show a tourist getting too close to a bison herd and then getting attacked, losing her pants in the encounter at Custer State Park.

A female passenger on a motorcycle got off and approached a herd of bison that were blocking the road at Custer State Park in South Dakota and wound up being violently attacked as she got too close while taking photos.

A bison charged the woman and caught her belt and jeans with its horn and tossed her around in a circle until the pants came off. The woman fell to the ground unconscious, and the bison ran off with the pants on its horn.

Fortunately, the 54-year-old Iowa woman escaped serious injury, according to the Custer County Chronicle.

A series of videos posted on Facebook by eyewitness Jo Reed tells the disturbing story. Be warned for strong language, and some might find the footage disturbing:

https://www.facebook.com/joanne.reed36sense/posts/10223769652499498

Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley told the Custer County Chronicle that the attack occurred around 6:39 p.m. Wednesday along Iron Mountain Road, adding that the victim was transported to an area hospital by Black Hills Life Flight.

Also on FTW Outdoors: A human-sized bat? It’s big, and photo is real, but…

“According to eyewitnesses, the woman had gotten off the motorcycle on which she was a passenger and was attempting to approach a buffalo calf when another adult bison charged her, catching her belt and jeans on its horn and swung her around violently,” Mechaley told the Chronicle. “She was apparently saved when her pants came off and she fell to the ground unconscious.”

In the preceding videos, Reed can be heard saying, “This woman’s nuts, how close does she have to get?” and “Oh my God, it got her.”

“I’ve never actually filmed a near-death experience, and this was easily going to happen to the woman we saw in Custer State Park on Wednesday,” Reed wrote on Facebook.

“We came around a curve just behind a group of motorcyclists, and there was a herd standing in the middle of the road, most noticeably a cow (female) and her calf ,which was nursing. I popped out of the top of our Jeep to snap a few photos as we were at a stand still.

“Initially one woman got off her bike and approached the herd and then more followed. It was a tense moment, because John and I just knew they weren’t respecting these massive beautiful creatures’ space.”

Custer State Park warns tourists to stay at least a 100 yards from bison. The Custer County Sheriff’s Office had posted a warning only a week before the attack.

Follow David Strege and the outdoors on Facebook.

 

 

Bison fight halts traffic on Yellowstone road

Male bison in Yellowstone National Park can weigh 2,000 pounds, so when two of them clash it can be an earth-shaking event.

Male bison in Yellowstone National Park can weigh 2,000 pounds, so when two of them clash it can be an earth-shaking event.

The accompanying silent footage, captured through a vehicle windshield, shows a bison ramming another with such force that it lifts the rival bison off the ground and knocks him off the road.

Yellowstone shared the video Wednesday, explaining that mating season is still underway and that male bison are aggressive and all bison should be afforded a wide berth.

[protected-iframe id=”10aee1f2da641f9576c4d527b36ba349-58289342-114731612″ info=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FYellowstoneNPS%2Fvideos%2F335962277579050%2F&show_text=0&width=560″ width=”560″ height=”315″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border: none; overflow: hidden;” scrolling=”no”]

The clash of titans occurred during a bison jam, with tourists stopped in both directions to wait for the herd to leave the road. Viewers will note that two calves are quick to skitter out of the way.

Yellowstone is home to nearly 5,000 bison. Mating season, known as the bison rut, occurs from late July through August. Calves are born the following April or May.

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Sea lion’s wild ride on humpback whale captured in photos

The animals are more docile before and after mating season, but still dangerous. Despite their incredible bulk, they can charge at speeds up to 30 mph.

–Images are courtesy of the National Park Service (top) and Pete Thomas

 

Yellowstone tries humor to warn against dangerous critters

Yellowstone National Park asks tourists to maintain a safe distance from other tourists and – as always – potentially dangerous animals.

Yellowstone National Park asks tourists to maintain a safe distance from other tourists and – as always – potentially dangerous animals.

On Friday the park unveiled a clever graphic intended to drive home its message. The chart shows a tourist standing and waving next to other tourists in a “wrong” manner, and six feet away in a “right” manner. It then shows the same figure standing next to a bear (wrong) and 100 yards from a bear (right), and next to a moose (wrong) and 25 yards from a moose (right).

The final portion of the graphic, however, is the punch line. It shows the waving figure standing next to a bison in one frame (wrong) and running from three charging bison in the next frame, beneath the heading,“Good luck,” and above the sub-heading: “Shouldn’t have been waving….”

This comes in the aftermath of a late-June incident involving a 72-year-old woman who was gored after violating park guidelines and repeatedly approaching within 10 feet of a bison. In May a woman was rammed by a bison after she violated the park’s 25-yard distance regulation.

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Cheetah ambushed by leopard, but hardly overmatched

A video on Yellowstone’s website shows a tourist being flung into tree branches by a bison that felt threatened. Last July, a bison charged a 9-year-old girl who was among several tourists who were too close, and flung her into the air.

Because of incidents such as these, almost always the result of tourists violating the park’s 25-yard distance guideline, bison are Yellowstone’s most dangerous animal. The iconic beasts, which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, are especially dangerous during their seasonal rut in July and August.

Tourists should not approach them, should not wave their hands at them, and could not in their wildest dreams outrun them. Despite being the largest land-dwelling mammal in North America, bison are surprisingly agile and can run in bursts of more than 30 mph.

So good luck, indeed, to visitors who fail to give them space.

–Graphic courtesy of Yellowstone National Park/National Park Service. Yellowstone bison images by ©Pete Thomas

Yellowstone records first bison incident of the year

Yellowstone reopened Monday, and it didn’t take long before its first recorded incident involving a disobedient tourist and a dangerous bison.

Yellowstone National Park reopened Monday, and it didn’t take long before its first recorded incident involving a disobedient tourist and a dangerous bison.

A female visitor who approached a bison too closely Wednesday afternoon was knocked to the ground and injured while in the Old Faithful Upper Geyser Basin, the park announced. It was the first incident of a bison injuring a visitor in 2020.

Emergency medical providers were called to the scene and assessed the woman’s unidentified injuries. The woman refused to be transported to a medical facility.

The incident remains under investigation.

Park officials constantly are warning visitors to follow the rules when viewing wildlife, and that is to give animals space: 25 yards away from bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose and coyotes; 100 yards away from bears and wolves.

“If need need be, turn around and go the other way to avoid interacting with a wild animal in close proximity,” the park stated.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Watch ice fisherman pull a 50-pound fish through tiny hole

There are 4,829 bison in Yellowstone, according to the park website. Bison weigh up to 2,000 pounds, and can be aggressive. They are agile, can run up to 35 mph, jump over objects 5-feet high, and possess excellent hearing, vision and sense of smell.

The park offers these simple rules to protect yourselves while visiting:

 Never approach animals. The animals in Yellowstone are wild and unpredictable, no matter how calm they appear to be. The safest (and often best) view of wildlife is from inside a car. Always stay at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves, and at least 25 yards (23 m) away from all other animals, including bison and elk.

Stay on boardwalks and trails in thermal areas. Hot springs have injured or killed more people in Yellowstone than any other natural feature. Keep your children close and don’t let them run.

Never feed wildlife. Animals that become dependent on human food may become aggressive toward people and have to be killed. Keep all food, garbage, or other smelly items packed away when not in use.

Never park in the road or block traffic. Use pullouts to watch wildlife and let other cars pass. Stay with your vehicle if you encounter a wildlife jam.

Photos of Yellowstone bison courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Follow David Strege and the outdoors on Facebook.

Bison reporter inspires new Yellowstone safety poster

The television reporter whose video went viral of him quickly packing up and leaving the scene in Yellowstone was honored by the park.

The television reporter whose video went viral of him quickly packing up and leaving the scene in Yellowstone National Park to avoid an encounter with a herd of bison has inspired a new safety poster by the park service:

“Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh no. I ain’t messing with you,” NBC Montana reporter Deion Broxton said as he packed away his TV camera into his trunk in the video.

The footage might be hilarious, but it does reflect exactly what visitors to the iconic park are supposed to do when such an encounter occurs.

As a result, the National Park Service honored him, saying on Facebook, “Thanks again to Deion Broxton and NBC Montana for last week’s viral video. As a response, our colleagues at National Park Service created this wildlife safety poster.”

Also on FTW Outdoors: Spearfisherman dragged out to sea by great white shark

On the Yellowstone National Park website, it states, “Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal. Bison are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans. Always stay at least 25 yards away from bison.”

In case you missed it, here is the video Broxton posted:

Follow David Strege and the outdoors on Facebook.

Yellowstone bison interrupt TV reporter, and it’s hilarious

A reporter for NBC Montana has gained social media fame for his reaction during a close bison encounter inside Yellowstone National Park.

A reporter for NBC Montana has gained social media fame for his hilarious – and wise – reaction during a close bison encounter inside Yellowstone National Park.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh no… I ain’t messing with you,” Deion Broxton says in the accompanying footage, after noticing the advancing herd and before ducking for cover behind the crew vehicle. “Oh no. I’m not messing with you.”

Bison do not appear in the footage Broxton tweeted Wednesday, which was later shared to Facebook by NBC News Montana (both clips were widely circulated). But Broxton later tweeted a clip of several bison he caught on video “once I got a safe distance away.”

[protected-iframe id=”7d4bc644f3d1a97e25cbf67dd9593a44-58289342-114731612″ info=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNBCMontana%2Fvideos%2F1421082708082931%2F&show_text=0&width=560″ width=”560″ height=”315″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border: none; overflow: hidden;” scrolling=”no”]

It’s worth noting that bison, which can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds, are the largest land mammals in North America. They’re not typically aggressive toward humans, but they’re wild and unpredictable, and warrant a wide berth.

The footage was shared to Facebook by Yellowstone National Park, which wrote: “A perfect example of what to do when approached by wildlife! Thanks Deion for putting the Yellowstone pledge into action!”

Part of the pledge, requested of all park visitors, is to treat wild animals with respect by giving them distance and staying out of their way.

Yellowstone, which incorporates portions of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, has been in the news after announcing that it was closing indefinitely because of COVID-19 pandemic.

–Image showing Deion Broxton is used with the permission of NBC Montana; bison image is courtesy of ©Pete Thomas

The reporter escaping a herd of bison in Yellowstone National Park is the meme we all need right now

LOL!

NBC Montana reporter Deion Broxton was just trying to do a shoot from Yellowstone National Park when he looked over and saw a herd of bison heading in his direction.

So he did what anyone would do in that situation: he uttered, “Oh no, I ain’t messing with you,” packed up and bolted. Smart man.

He then uploaded the footage to Twitter — by the way, he did end up with a shot of the bison in question! — and became a viral star, and of course that means he became a meme.

Here’s a sampling, including some sports takes on the video, starting with the original footage:

The GIF is the best:

[vertical-gallery id=905049]

[jwplayer 6XivraRw-q2aasYxh]

Yellowstone bison seems to dance to motorist’s tune

Last summer sheriff’s deputies revealed that blaring “Hells Bells” by AC/DC to scatter bison on roads in Yellowstone National Park.

Last summer the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office in Montana revealed that its deputies sometimes blare “Hells Bells” by AC/DC to scatter bison on roads in and around Yellowstone National Park.

“That usually seems to work,” the Sheriff’s Office explained.

[vimeo 396342669 w=640 h=360]

Dancin Buffalo in Yellowstone, Wyoming from Kristine Dugan on Vimeo.

But apparently, not all music has the same effect. The accompanying footage shows a large bison reacting to a passing motorist’s catchy tune with a series of quick steps and head bobs.

“Normal day in Yellowstone,” Kristine Dugan says in the footage, which she titled, “Dancin buffalo in Yellowstone, Wyoming.”

Is the bison actually dancing, or does it merely have a pebble stuck in its hoof? We’ll let viewers be the judge.

–Video and top image courtesy of Kristine Dugan. Bottom image by ©Pete Thomas