Opening day of Yellowstone. Old faithful lodge. Woman approaches and pets Bison.

Occurrence Date: April 16, 2016Show more

Location: Old Faithful Lodge, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

Info From Licensor: "Opening weekend at Yellowstone National Park.
After watching Old Faithful erupt we were in our truck on the backside of the lodge, where we saw in the distance a woman whom seemed entirely too close to the bull bison we noticed earlier during the eruption. We stopped the truck and I rolled down the window to yell at her that she was too close. We were all audibly reacting and in shock at what we were witnessing. She was dramatically emoting or gesturing the bull, whom was standing at that point. She had been mimicking gestures- arms bowed and moving/bobbing back and forth to simulate something/one big/fat and then dipping her knees to mimic him when he laid down. It approached her and I thought at that point she was going to get rammed. But instead, he laid down. She then began to try to pose next to it for the photos/video her male friend was taking, then tried to touch and pet him several times. I was more involved with scanning the scene for others who may be able to stop her that were over there (we were far) or a ranger, also frozen from shock but wanting to get out of the truck. Finally I decided to hit record but still more worried about what I was witnessing to get a good video. After a few attempts to pet -yes she does make contact- she walks away to her friend. They then walk away toward the visitor center and we drive to the other side of the lodge where we see a ranger walking toward and engaging them. After a short conversation, they walk away from the ranger. And we share our shock and awe with another viewer that approach the truck to share his disbelief and anger."

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Opening day of Yellowstone. Old faithful lodge. Woman approaches and pets Bison.