One of the main reasons people come to Yellowstone is to see the wildlife. When there is an animal near the road all traffic stops in both directions. Most drivers pull over or make an attempt to; others just stop while someone gets out of the vehicle to snap a photo. The more rare the animal the longer the stop.
Park rules tell you: Do NOT approach the wildlife. There are warnings about "safe" distances to view wildlife. I was appalled in South Dakota when I saw a parent and young child run towards a bison in an open field. Did they think it was a petting zoo? People are gored by bison.
The elk, moose, mule deer and even the bison don't pay much attention to the tourists. We joked about them working shifts in different people areas. someplace had a T shirt to that effect. Even those animals could be dangerous if they decided to run away from the humans and come in your direction.
Being a rule follower, I expressed annoyance at those walking toward the animals trying to get a better shot or to have their child pose with the animal.
At some point we stopped to see what the crowd was looking at. I wasn't driving so I picked up the camera, got out of the car, crossed the street and went to the side of the road to see what I could see. Nothing, so I moved closer. No warning bells, no "DO NOT approach the wildlife" sounded in my rational mind. After all I was up an embankment from the animal which turned out to be a bison. as I took a photo of the birds landing on his back a second one approached from out of no where. OH! Where did HE come from? That's when the brain turned on and I realized there was one more fool than I thought.
We covered a lot of territory that day. Mammoth Springs at the northernmost section of Yellowstone had more interesting geological and geothermal oddities to marvel at. We stopped at the visitor's center but had trouble parking as a herd of female elk were holding a sit in at the green. Many parking spots were blocked by park rangers. there were warning posted : Do not approach the wildlife.
On the return trip we commented on the diversity of landscape within the park. It is enormous and changes. One really needs several days to explore the park connected by a figure 8 road.
We stopped for a late lunch in a parking area and noticed the traffic was at a standstill in both directions. As we were getting our picnic lunch out of the trunk of the car a person walked by and asked if we had seen the grizzlies...no...so up the road a bit was a mamma bear and two cubs digging food on the hill.
Skip grabs the camera and runs up the road. I continued to make my sandwich, eat it, all the while noticing that the traffic isn't moving and Skip isn't returning. I couldn't leave the car with the windows open and I had no keys...
A few minutes later Skip returns all excited about the bear and the photos he took. "You realize," I said, "that there is yet another fool who approached the wildlife." Ah, but he had a plan. If mama decided to come down the hill he planned to climb the ladder on a nearby RV. I said, "Next time, leave me the keys..."
Lunch eaten and traffic still moving slowly and backed up pretty far, I thought we'd have trouble getting out of the parking lot. A nice person let us into the line of traffic as it inched toward the location of the bear. By then she was still visible, but higher on the hill. The car was stopped, I jumped out of the car with the camera and walked closer. A woman told me where to stand so I could see. I listened to her without thinking even though it was RIGHT in front of a pickup truck on the road. I looked at the bear for moment, took a very poor photo and had a moment of clarity when I realized once again I broke the rule. But I quickly decided that there were over 25 people there and the bear would get one of them, not me. So there I stood, gawking at the bear. I was interrupted by an annoyed driver who was yelling, "The traffic is moving!" OH, I guess I should move off the road.
So include me as a fool who not only approached the wildlife but annoyed a Homo sapien in the process. I'm glad he didn't run me over.
Park rules tell you: Do NOT approach the wildlife. There are warnings about "safe" distances to view wildlife. I was appalled in South Dakota when I saw a parent and young child run towards a bison in an open field. Did they think it was a petting zoo? People are gored by bison.
The elk, moose, mule deer and even the bison don't pay much attention to the tourists. We joked about them working shifts in different people areas. someplace had a T shirt to that effect. Even those animals could be dangerous if they decided to run away from the humans and come in your direction.
Being a rule follower, I expressed annoyance at those walking toward the animals trying to get a better shot or to have their child pose with the animal.
At some point we stopped to see what the crowd was looking at. I wasn't driving so I picked up the camera, got out of the car, crossed the street and went to the side of the road to see what I could see. Nothing, so I moved closer. No warning bells, no "DO NOT approach the wildlife" sounded in my rational mind. After all I was up an embankment from the animal which turned out to be a bison. as I took a photo of the birds landing on his back a second one approached from out of no where. OH! Where did HE come from? That's when the brain turned on and I realized there was one more fool than I thought.
We covered a lot of territory that day. Mammoth Springs at the northernmost section of Yellowstone had more interesting geological and geothermal oddities to marvel at. We stopped at the visitor's center but had trouble parking as a herd of female elk were holding a sit in at the green. Many parking spots were blocked by park rangers. there were warning posted : Do not approach the wildlife.
On the return trip we commented on the diversity of landscape within the park. It is enormous and changes. One really needs several days to explore the park connected by a figure 8 road.
We stopped for a late lunch in a parking area and noticed the traffic was at a standstill in both directions. As we were getting our picnic lunch out of the trunk of the car a person walked by and asked if we had seen the grizzlies...no...so up the road a bit was a mamma bear and two cubs digging food on the hill.
Skip grabs the camera and runs up the road. I continued to make my sandwich, eat it, all the while noticing that the traffic isn't moving and Skip isn't returning. I couldn't leave the car with the windows open and I had no keys...
A few minutes later Skip returns all excited about the bear and the photos he took. "You realize," I said, "that there is yet another fool who approached the wildlife." Ah, but he had a plan. If mama decided to come down the hill he planned to climb the ladder on a nearby RV. I said, "Next time, leave me the keys..."
Lunch eaten and traffic still moving slowly and backed up pretty far, I thought we'd have trouble getting out of the parking lot. A nice person let us into the line of traffic as it inched toward the location of the bear. By then she was still visible, but higher on the hill. The car was stopped, I jumped out of the car with the camera and walked closer. A woman told me where to stand so I could see. I listened to her without thinking even though it was RIGHT in front of a pickup truck on the road. I looked at the bear for moment, took a very poor photo and had a moment of clarity when I realized once again I broke the rule. But I quickly decided that there were over 25 people there and the bear would get one of them, not me. So there I stood, gawking at the bear. I was interrupted by an annoyed driver who was yelling, "The traffic is moving!" OH, I guess I should move off the road.
So include me as a fool who not only approached the wildlife but annoyed a Homo sapien in the process. I'm glad he didn't run me over.
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