The first of June is just a few days away, meaning school will soon be letting out and flocks of families will be piling into the car and heading out west for an adventure.
While there’s no shortage of awesome nature preserves, none of them compare to the one and only Yellowstone National Park.
Over 2.2 million acres of raw, natural beauty and wildlife is housed mainly in Wyoming, but spills a bit into Montana and Idaho. It was established in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant, making it America’s first national park, and most likely the first in the world.
The park is home to over 69,000 native species of flora and is also widely considered to be the finest megafauna wildlife habitat in the world, home to nearly 60 species of mammals. Some of its most famous predators are grizzly and black bear, wolves, mountain lions, lynx, and coyotes, while herds of bison, elk, moose, mountain goat, and bighorn sheep roam freely.
Combine this with snowy mountain peaks, volcanos, waterfalls, hot springs, geysers, forests, meadows, and huge plains and you’ve got just about the closest thing we’ve got to heaven on earth.
Considering all this, it’s no wonder so many people make the trip to see these wonders for themself each year, with over 3 million people each year making a visit.
But when you’ve got that many people, there’s bound to be more than a few idiots mixed in that will do what they do best: Wreak havoc on an otherwise great time.
Here’s 5 of the dumbest tourists to visit Yellowstone National Park.
Bison Sends Nosy Tourist Flying Into Tree
It’s a story as old as time.
Bison gets close to an area with some people. People notice bison and say “Wow, that’s so cool! Let’s get closer for a better picture!” Bison doesn’t like the people being there and charges. The bison wins.
In this particular case, this video from way back shows a man in Yellowstone National Park, standing very close to a bison with only a tree in between them, presumably trying to hide from the 1500 pound monster. Shockingly, it didn’t work.
The bison sniffs him out, starts kicking up dirt in a clear sign of “If you don’t leave I’ll hurt you”, then charges and absolutely launches the grown man high into the pines.
I mean sends him up there like a Christmas ornament, this guy got tossed.
It just goes to show you… don’t pet the fluffy cows. They will mess you up.
Woman Approaches Grizzly Bear, Gets Charged, Winds Up In Jail
I get that the internet has inundated us with videos of wild animals looking all cute and cuddly, but does this lady not realize what that bear she’s creeping up on is capable of?
Despite plenty of warnings from fellow tourists (who were also too close), she just needed to get that picture and keep approaching the grizzly, who obviously didn’t like it very much and charged her. Fortunately, it was just a bluff charge to scare her off, because she reacted well after it would have been much too late.
Are you even appreciating being that close to an animal if you only look at it through your phone screen? I obviously don’t condone this, but at least get a good look with your eyes…
Turns out, getting that close to a wild grizzly is not just stupid, it’s illegal.
According to NPR, the woman was sentenced to 4 days in jail after pleading guilty to willfully remaining, approaching, and photographing wildlife within 100 yards.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Baby Bison Euthanized After Being Placed In Trunk Of Car
A textbook example of what not to do.
While visiting Yellowstone, a group of tourists reportedly grew worried that a baby bison needed to be rescued from the cold elements, picked up the small buffalo, put it in their car, and drove it to the ranger station.
Obviously, the buffalo was just fine and needed no help living in the 39 to 50 degrees of the day, and this whole ordeal would be funny if the end wasn’t so tragic.
Park rangers made multiple attempts to reunite the calf with its herd, but the efforts failed as the bison rejected it. The rangers were left with no choice but to euthanize it after it caused various issues by approaching people and cars near roadways after it was released.
As if it needs to be said, wild animals do not need your help…
Bison Tosses 9-Year Old Girl Into The Air After Adults Leave Her
Not only did they make a bison charge them, they left a poor 9 year old girl completely helpless.
A group of tourists filmed themselves getting within 5 to 10 feet of a grazing bison multiple times over the course of 20 minutes before the beast had enough and charged at two adult men and a small child.
In a showing of the utmost degree of pathetic, both men took off running, leaving the young girl completely helpless and the closest target. She was tossed tumbling at least 10 feet in the air.
Luckily, she was fine, but my goodness, how awful can you get?
Drunk Tourist Taunts Bison, Almost Gets Flattened, Goes To Jail
I’ve done quite a few dumb things while drunk, but I’ve never been so intoxicated I thought playing chicken with a buffalo was a good idea…
Apparently, this guy and his buddies were on a road trip to have “one last hurrah” before entering an alcohol treatment program, and part of that hurrah was visiting Yellowstone and trying to get as close to a bison as possible.
So when one approached their car, he got out on the road and did his best matador impersonation, coming dangerously close (multiple times) to getting impaled.
While he was able to get out of the situation unharmed physically, he was sentenced to 130 days in jail: 60 for harassing wildlife, 60 for interfering with law enforcement, and 10 for disorderly conduct.
Hope that 15 minutes of fame was worth it…
