What happens when three of the largest land mammals get into an all out brawl?
With bison being the largest mammals in North America, seeing two of the beasts go after another would be quite the sight to see. In this video out of Yellowstone National Park… you actually get to see three bison locked in battle. It certainly feels like we are all lucky that wildlife photographer Tammy Lyn Neufeld was there to capture this on video.
Fully grown male bison stand at 6 feet tall (their probably actually 5’11 and are just rounding up) and can weigh around 2,000 pounds at their heaviest, which if you don’t know, is a full ton. So when these one-ton beasts go at one another, it is truly a heavy-weight match up.
The active months for male and female bison to do their thing spans from July all the way through September. It’s during this time that bison, especially males, are generally more aggressive than they normally would be. Why? Because the behemoths are competing for mating rights and territories over the span of a couple of months.
Interestingly enough, this bison showdown happened outside of the rut season, yet exhibits all the qualities of male bison fighting to establish themselves as the most prized male possession. At first, you only see two bison out of the herd with their horns locked together. The sheer power that was on display is almost hard to put into words.
The large creatures were pushing one another and butting heads in a very aggressive fashion. This was no “play fight.” It was two animals at full strength trying to prove to the surrounding herd who was boss. The only problem? There was another male bison nearby that wanted in on the skirmish too.
As the two bison were busy and distracted as they were giving each other their best shot, another big ol’ bison comes flying into the altercation out of nowhere. Was it attempting to break up the fight? Or enter as a later challenger and finish the battle off once and for all? Either way, it effectively did both.
Once the third bison came into the picture, the whole bout broke apart. Part of it probably had to do with the full head of steam that the last bison had as it violently bumped its way into the proceedings. Seems like while the first two were competing for supremacy, the real enforcer was waiting at bay and ready to show the herd who was really boss.
The stunning video was shared to Facebook by Tammy Lyn Neufeld Photography with the caption:
“These guys haven’t gotten the memo that rut is supposed to be over… watch until the end for the third!”
Man, seeing that much power on display makes me wonder… why don’t we start describing things in “bison power” like we do “horse power?” How do we measure that? I’m not the person to answer that question… but I now have a good idea what “three bison power” looks like.
