Is this considered a drive-thru car wash?
If you’re from anywhere that regularly gets snow, you know the pain of rock salt on the roads during the winter. Obviously it helps to keep roadways from icing over and keeps traffic moving when it’s icy, but it also can ruin your car’s paint job, accelerates rust, and is basically impossible to get off.
Unless, of course, you happen to have some bison to help with the job.
While bison were once nearly extinct, large populations now live in many western states with an estimated 20,500 plains bison roaming freely and 420,000 in commercial herds, according to US Fish & Wildlife Services.
Yellowstone National Park is the most well-known place to see wild bison, but there are plenty of other parks where you can get up close and personal with these giant beasts, including Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Around 1,300 bison wander the parks 71,000 acres according to Travel South Dakota, and two of these creatures got very interested in a salt covered Tesla that was driving through the Wildlife Loop.
The driver calmly records from inside his car while a bison approaches, and gives some excellent commentary as he realizes that his precious car is in for one heck of a tongue bath:
“Got a few buffalo on the road. Think we’ll stop right here… Okay. Shiza. He is licking the car…
This guy too is coming up. He is going to lick the car too. So, we have two buffalo licking the car.”
You can hear the nervous disappointment in this guy’s voice. Clearly, he went there to see some wildlife but he certainly doesn’t want his pride and joy getting licked or scratched by one of these guys.
The video continues to show various angles of the tongue bath, both from his phone and from the cameras placed around the vehicle, and honestly it’s super funny to watch the bison try and get every morsel of salt while the guy tries to keep calm.
At the end of the video you can see some pictures he took which show just how much licking took place and it’s quite honestly impressive.
Of course now the guy has another problem: Bison slobber is somehow even harder to get off of a car than salt. Let’s hope this guy has a good car wash nearby.
You just never know what you’ll see when out looking at America’s wildlife.
Bison Crashes Through Boardwalk At Yellowstone
Well that’s embarrassing.
Bison are the largest mammals in North America, weighing up to 2,000 lbs and standing nearly 6 feet tall. And while they’re obviously dangerous creatures, most of the time they aren’t aggressive unless they feel threatened. Bison are herbivores, and since they only eat plants they tend to avoid conflict and are happy to just go about their business if they’re not being bothered.
There are over 4,000 bison living in Yellowstone National Park, and with over 3 million visitors to the park per year, there are bound to be some close encounters with these majestic creatures.
And sometimes they’ll just walk right across your path.
This group was visiting Yellowstone, and keeping on the boardwalk like they were supposed to. (This may not sound like a big deal, but as many videos as we see of people leaving the boardwalk to approach the wildlife, gotta give credit where it’s due).
But a couple of bison decided to take a short cut – right in front of them across the boardwalk.
Now, as I mentioned, bison can weigh up to a ton. And I’m not questioning the craftsmanship of the fine folks at the National Park Service, but that’s a lot of weight on a 2×4.
As the first bison crosses, apparently the board just couldn’t quite stand up to the weight, and the animal’s leg crashes straight through the deck.
The bison looks momentarily confused, before removing his foot and continuing on his way. And when the second one comes through, they’re smart enough to avoid the hole in the plank and safely crosses without causing any more damage to the boardwalk.
I like to think that the second one was the wife, and she made fun of the first guy after they got across:
“I told you that you need to lose weight fatty. Look at what you did. Now all those people are laughing at you.”
But you gotta think at least part of the blame lies with the park. I mean, they know these animals are out there and going to walk across the path at some point. Might wanna add some reinforcements next time.
Poor guy. Hope he’s not self-conscious.
@adam.nigels Yellowstone bison cracks through a boardwalk at Norris Geyser Basin. The Yellowstone bison are very dangerous up close. In this moment, however, they simply wanted to cross the boardwalk and wanted nothing to do with the nearby people. Make sure to keep your distance and never approach the bison if you plan on visiting #Yellowstone
