We’ve seen a number of Yellowstone National Park tourists have some way too close encounters with the wildlife that lives among the park.
Needless to say, these encounters can create some incredibly tense moments, as guests never truly know what the response from the wildlife will be.
However, this specific encounter was rather pleasant, as a Grizzly Bear crept up on tourist Stan Mills, who was off trail at the national park.
It’s a perfect display of a human not doing anything to provoke or agitate an animal within the park’s boundaries, when so many times we’ve seen the opposite.
Mills uploaded the footage to YouTube, and the caption reads:
“I was sitting in the rain under my poncho just kinda gazing off into the distance while resting under a tree when I took a look to my left. I immediately saw a grizzly walking toward me.
I was not very visible to the bear because I was under my poncho but the grizzly finally spotted me from the movement I was making while going after my bear spay and then my camera.
You are never supposed to get within 100 yards of bears in the park but with close surprise encounters you have no choice and at that point you have to do the right thing.”
At around the seven minute and 30 second mark, you see the Grizzly within relatively close range of Mills, and the bear knows he is standing there.
He says in the footage:
“He sees me, he saw me first… I’m just going to not move or anything.”
Since you’re not supposed to be within 100 yards of bears at Yellowstone, Mills slowly began to distance himself from the Grizzly, as it sniffs the ground and looks back at him.
According to Newsweek, the National Park Service estimated that there were about 728 Grizzly Bears living in Yellowstone.
Mills told the outlet:
“I am not looking to get close to bears… I never approach closer to a bear once I spot it, it just happens because I spend a lot of time hiking in grizzly areas.
I don’t get nervous. I go hiking to see all the wonderful wildlife in God’s beautiful creation… I try to show people that there is a peaceful and respectful way to hike in the backcountry.
I have never had a bad encounter with a grizzly bear and as in this video, they have always shown me the same respect that I show them.”
Yellowstone, man… it’s just incredible.
