My thoughts on the Yellowstone Attacks

I'm sure you have all seen the news of the three attacks in Yellowstone NP this week.. What really grinds my gears is that the general public treats these wild animals as if they are livestock on a farm. I'm a company commander in the Army and during my safety brief I try to stay away from the long, boring brief and make it somewhat interactive. The topic of wildlife came up and I expanded on what the Soldier said with these events since there is a lot of wildlife in Colorado where I'm stationed. I boiled it down to respect for the wildlife, respect that, though they may not be as skittish as an animal in the backcountry, they are wild animals. These animals are wild and don't care how cool your selfie is going to look on your TwitterSnapInstaFace. They have a bubble, just like humans, where they feel safe. That California woman found out the hard way that 15 yards with a group of people, made that bison feel unsafe. The two women behind the hotel found out the hard way that an animal mother will go to the same lengths to protect her young as most human mothers and execute their protection very violently.

I'm not saying I do not feel for these women because it does not sound like the attacks tickled one bit. What I would say is that there is a general lack of respect for the power that these animals possess to do harm to a perceived threat. I saw the same lack of respect at Rocky Mountain National Park a few weekends ago when a group of people ran up to a bachelor heard of about five bulls feeding along a stream. I may be Colorado's Worst Elk Hunter and have seen a total of one truly wild elk so I was excited to keep my distance. I sat on a rock while this future 6x6 fed towards me and I got several great pictures of him, the below being my favorite. What do you guys/gals think of the Yellowstone events?

Darwin's response to actions taken that lack common sense.

As a younger, I had the opportunity to work as a "Wrangler" within Grand Teton Natl Park. It encompassed wrangling tourist on trail rides. Viewing every animal within our Park.
One of the questions asked of many Darwin nominated questions, " When do you let the animals out?" A tourist actually thought the park was an open zoo operation where <wild> animals were corralled and released and he wanted assurance their ride would be at a time the animals were released.
It's an extreme example though goes towards the outright naive ignorance some posses...

Oh man, I think I would have led that person to believe you actually have to wrangle all of the animals into corrals after dark with the pika being the most ornery of the animals and maybe throw in a few stories of near escapes with a tear shed for the horses lost. Of course you would have to tell them at the end of the day that they were dumb for believing your tales and may Darwin have mercy. I only say pika because of this Out There Colorado post of the most dangerous animals in Colorado with the Pika being most dangerous.

"Found around the world at elevations of more than 20,000 feet, the pika is one of the most resilient beasts around. Roughly the size of a fist, the pika tends to be underestimated amongst hikers and climbers, though this should not be the case. By using a special type of telepathy, pikas are able to pull together into large groups within moments if threatened, joining up in numbers upwards of 100 to fend off a predator. If you happen to stumble on pika in the wild, know that his pika friends have his back. While deaths related to pikas are rarely discussed, dozens occur each year in Colorado. (This is obviously a joke...don't fear the pika. Just admire their cuteness when you encounter them instead). "

I think part of the problem is that too many average Americans are so completely removed from nature and agriculture these days. In Yellowstone, the bison injure a lot more people than do the bears primarily because people think they are nothing more than big dumb cows and that they can walk right up to them. We visited in early May and watched two people get within 10-15 feet of a buffalo for photo ops at the same location where this latest incident occurred.

Another problem is the "park" mentality and too many folks' complete and utter faith in and dependence upon government. Way back in 1991 I was working in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northern Minnesota. We were cleaning and rolling firehose when a lady in a mini-van with Chicago plates came screeching into the parking lot, jumped out, and start fairly screaming at us that she had seen a bear. We were all kind of like, "Yeah. So?" Then she was outraged. "But you're the government! Don't tell me you just let those things run around loose?!?!" She was a little stunned and further outraged when we explained that yes, in a wilderness area, we did indeed let the bears...and all the other wildlife...just run around loose.

That was a real eye-opener for me about how big a disconnect there is between nature and today's city dwellers.

As often as I in YNP or GNP, I am in awe this doesn't happen more often. Frankly, I think rangers could do a better job. I've seen many allow visitors to get past the recommended distances.

Then again. last summer I was fishing Sods Butte during the bison rut and had the herd move within 50 yards of me. Couldn't really do anything but keep.fishing. maybe I'm part of the problem...

Can't fix stupid. Wish I had a camera when I watched a lady feed a carrot to a deer (not from her hand, instead, she stuck it in her mouth)!!

I was all ready to run fetch a first aid kit. After, I told her that was dangerous and she scoffed at me, saying they were tame.

5 minutes later I watched that same doe rear up and wail on another doe. Lady got in her car and drove away...not sure if she learned anything but maybe?

I literally see the type of behavior that lead to the attacks every time I'm there. The foreign tourists are so oblivious and clueless about safety that it's almost comical.

Although this is meant to be funny, it should be shown to all visitors of the park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmjyPu1UoXI

I think it's awesome that a few get chewed on. Gives me hope that wild animals are still wild in the park. I have no sympathy for stupidity.

I wish they would accurately portray these on the news as out of control people harassing animals as opposed to animals attacking people which is usually how it appears in the media.

A window into how animals would act if we were to end hunting.

Ditto

Feed em' to the bears!!

Natural selection.....mtmuley

I've worked in the park quite a bit, even lived in the park for half a year. I've always been amazed how tolerant the critters are towards people. If they weren't, it would be absolute carnage every day.

Where we lived, we had our pet elk and buffs. It was pretty easy to turn a corner and run into a giant buffalo bull laying under a tree 10 feet away. If they wanted to kill us, we would have lost a dozen workers that summer.

My thought is people are idiots, and deserved to get steamrolled by the elk.

I have seen it all too. Here in western Va we get tourists from DC almost daily. It funny/annoying to watch them act like fools in the parks. My favorite was a friend worked at a battlefield park and told a group that the large round bales of hay were not the actual bales made during the battle in 1862 but were replicas. Ive got a ton of good wildlife photos of bears with cubs that always has one of those idiots between me and her. It does let me get close enough to see the hair raised on their back and them popping their jaw. I view them like pawns on a chess board.

Wild animals will be wild animals.... natural selection at its finest