News & Updates

Respect Wildlife: When Buffalo Attack

Guest - July 23, 2010
Learn about wildlife through quiet observation. Do not disturb wildlife or plants just for a "better look". Observe wildlife from a distance so they are not scared or forced to flee. Large groups often cause more damage to the environment and can disturb wildlife so keep your group small. If you have a larger group, divide into smaller groups if possible to minimize your impacts. Learn More ( + )
 
FARR WEST (Utah) – A Farr West woman was charged and flipped by a bison in Yellowstone National Park. She recorded the whole encounter. Cathy Hayes was recording with a small camera Monday evening as a friend approached the lone bison at the edge of a parking lot in Biscuit Basin. You can hear Hayes say, "Getting gored by a buffalo." Of course she was joking in those seconds before the large animal started bucking and charged her friend. He fell in the parking lot injuring his shoulder, but the bison had already turned to Hayes and caught her in a small grove of trees flipping her head over heel. "I could hear him over me stomping and snorting and I just knew," Hayes said. "I knew at that second that was it. I thought this is going to be my last moment in Yellowstone Park getting tromped by a buffalo." But the bison left Hayes alone after that. Minutes later she could see and feel her knee swelling to the size of a grapefruit and the bruises began to appear on her arms and legs.
 
She says she has always been wary of wildlife during trips to the park, but facing down an angry bison gave her greater respect. "They say stay a hundred feet away. We were about 30, 35 feet," Hayes said. "I zoomed in on him, but that wasn't far enough because they are fast and they can turn on a dime."
 
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