Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Doofus Of The Day #612


Today's winner is from Massachusetts, but he won his award in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

A man was gored by a bull bison near the Norris campground on Saturday in Yellowstone National Park.

. . .

The man let the bull approach within a few feet of where he was sitting and refused to move away.

This resulted in the animal tossing the man nearly 10 feet in the air and being pinned to the ground. The park visitor broke his collarbone, shoulder blade and ribs. He also suffered a groin injury.

. . .

“Park visitors are reminded that wildlife in Yellowstone is, in fact, wild,” the park said in a news release Monday.

There's more at the link.

The only response I can make to the last sentence quoted above is, "No s***, Sherlock!"  Being an African boy, I was raised to give way (rapidly!) to anything larger and heavier than I was, and particularly to anything with more feet, more horns or sharper teeth than myself.  How is it that people blithely ignore clearly-spelled-out warnings about the need to do so?  Do they're think they're immune?

Verily, the mind doth boggle . . .

Peter

10 comments:

Sherm said...

We drove by this shortly after it happened. I've never seen such a collections of rangers in YNP. Yellowstone is a great place to see terminal stupidity. I've seen people trying to put their children on bison for a picture. My mother remembers the same with a bear. Incredible. A local hospital had "bison goring" among their top 10 reasons for emergency room visits.

FarmGirl said...

When I went to Yellowstone and camped for my birthday, I camped on a creek ford used by wildlife hikers and back country hunters alike.

I happened to catch a bison crossing the creek as he was just considering it, my picnic table was just about eight feet from the path up from the creek.

So, before he started across, I got my camera, sat down at the picnic table and stayed very still and quiet. I got video of him coming all the way across the creek and pausing to look at me once he noticed me, then moving on.

The caveat here is that I am well versed in animal behavior and he was calm, just going about his business, was not acting aggressive or approaching me, and I was on the extreme lookout for any signs he felt that I needed to be elsewhere.

That same trip I stopped a tourist from walking into a meadow with a bull elk and his harem to get a better picture... then informed the nearby ranger.

It was the tail end of August, and mating season. Dude would have been dead or severely damaged in short order.

I have spent my life learning those signs in bovines and other animals, basically. Anyone who hasn't, should just leave em the hell alone.

Erik said...

I was in Yellowstone years ago, and I have several photos taken fairly close to bisons. This was not done by walking up to them, they simply dont care about people and come very close to the walkways, it was simply hard to avoid them without actually fleeing from them.

The cows I've seen at the local farms give up more space to people, so I can see why people could think they are tame and harmless. Especially city folks that aren't used to any animal bigger than a dog.
But once you get close enough you realize that they are a lot bigger than on TV, and that alone should be enough reason to stay clear.

The reason that they dont seem to shy away from people is of course that they dont have to, they have nothing to be afraid of and can make quick work of any person getting too close. And "too close" is not a fixed distance, it's what the animal thinks is to close at that time.

If an animal like that gives any indication that he noticed you, or that he wants to go where you are currently standing, they should be given room to do so.

Anonymous said...

Y'all don't understand. See, there are no fences or moats between the people and the animals. This means that the animals are tame and friendly, because otherwise there would be glass and fences, right? That's the way it is in the zoo. So everyone can tell that the animals in the park are safe. Park means tame means docile and safe.

And before you flame me, this is the summary of an argument I heard from someone who, for better or worse, had never been off of paved or mowed surfaces in his life. It was all I could do to keep a straight face, nod, and make the correct, polite noises.

LittleRed1

Shrimp said...

@LittleRed1:
Silly as it sounds, I too have heard people make that argument. Sheltered lives, I guess. And a complete disconnect from their primate roots and survival instinct, too.

Anonymous said...

Saw it first hand two years ago in Yellowstone myself.

Just got back from the Canadian Rockies. Still snow in the mountains, lower than normal, so unlike 4 years prior, we saw Bears.

We were (thankfully) safely ensconced in our automobile at the time.

HOWEVER, we did see "eeedjits Americanus" and "moronus Canadianus" both standing within 10 feet of a GRIZZLY female WITH CUBS which happened to meander near to a road. There were even two cameras out ON TRIPODS. I'd say there were a dozen people out of their cars.

I cranked the window open a few inches and stated "this is not a petting zoo...." but nobody - NOBODY paid me any mind at all.

I was (odd as it sounds for anyone who knows me personally) virtually speechless for almost an hour after that.....

Pastor Glenn

Stretch said...

The visitor package handed to all tourists entering Yellowstone has a LARGE YELLOW SHEET stating "Bison can run 45mph. Can you?"
Despite that my Smarter Half and I saw adults with a Kodak in one hand dragging child with the other towards buffalo say "Oh look! It has a baby!"

At the first Florida rest station on I-75 southbound a damnyankee tourist tried to put her 2 year old child on the back of a gator. Was incensed when a State Trooper said "No!" Informed that the gator was dangerous she asked "Then why do you let them loose?" Things got heated, she struck the trooper and charges included "reckless endangerment."

The Smarter Half has long held that seat-belt and helmet laws have allowed the stupid to survive to breeding age thus producing a higher grade of idiot.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully the groin injury will keep him from polluting the gene even more

Anonymous said...

Stupid prick,he`s probably trying to find an ambulance chasing lawyer to sue for him.

Firehand said...

Capstick called it 'Disney Syndrome'.