When Bison Attack

There have been a handful of reports out of Yellowstone National Park this week of a woman gored by a bison. It was first announced that she had died, then that she had survived but had been tossed anywhere from ten to twenty-five feet in the air.

The incident occurred on a boardwalk not far from Old Faithful when a tourist approached within ten feet of the bison.

Bison are not to be messed with, and they attack when their boundaries are ignored.

In the past five years, we’ve taken four trips that had us near bison, often closer than ten feet, but we’ve never experienced their wrath.

The thing is, Samwise, Emily, and I never approach bison. We do, however, put ourselves where they can approach us if they choose. Most steer clear, but at those rare times when they are curious, it is a gift to witness.

On our first trip, it was just Samwise and me. We saw bison at the National Bison Range, Yellowstone, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and Custer State Park.

Our first magical interactio…