Yellowstone National Park is the only place in the United States where a wild, free-ranging population of bison has lived continuously since prehistoric times. The park’s population, which typically fluctuates between 4,000 and 6,000 individuals, is divided into the northern and central breeding herds and serves as the largest public bison population in North America.
And while they may look slow and docile while grazing, bison are dangerously fast and agile. A mature bull can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, sprint at speeds up to 35 miles per hour, and pivot on a dime. Just think about the force behind a 2,000 pound object moving at 35 miles per hour… I’ll do the math… it’s over 110,000 joules of kinetic energy.
Beyond the force, they are actually quite agile for their size. They can turn on dime and are fully capable of jumping over objects five feet high.
Despite the park being home to predators like bears, wolves and mountain lion, bison are responsible for more injuries to Yellowstone visitors than any other animal in the park.
Interactions with Humans
In the winter, bison use their massive heads and muscular humps like snowplows to sweep away deep snow and access buried grasses. During the late summer rut (mating season), the herds become highly volatile as massive bulls aggressively bellow, fight for dominance, and blindly charge anything that gets in their way.
Bison view Yellowstone’s paved roads as highly efficient travel corridors, particularly in the winter when avoiding deep snow. They frequently take over entire lanes, leading to massive traffic delays famously known as “bison jams.”
And while daytime road encounters are mostly just a test of patience, nighttime vehicle collisions are a severe, recurring hazard. A bison’s dark brown coat absorbs light rather than reflecting it, and their eyes do not shine in headlights the way a deer’s or elk’s do. This renders a 2,000-pound animal virtually invisible on unlit park roads after dark until a vehicle is mere feet away. It’s like hitting a brick wall in the middle of the road…
Furthermore, bison are extremely stubborn and will rarely yield to an oncoming vehicle, resulting in devastating, high-speed crashes that completely total cars and fatally injure the animals.
Honestly, the only vehicle that seems like it would have a chance against a full grown bison would be the Tesla Cybertruck, considering that Elon Musk (for some reason), wanted to be able to throw stuff at its windows and have it not break. You know, just normal things you would want your truck to be able to withstand…
I’m sure the couple in this video wished their car had the “unbreakable” features of the Cybertruck when they came face to face with a charging bison in Yellowstone National Park. The tourists were driving down a road within the park when a couple of bison ran up onto the asphalt and held up traffic.
Most of the vehicles on the road came to a stop to let the bison do their thing, as did the couple in the video below. However, they almost had to act fast and think later when the massive bison decided to get up to full speed and was heading right for them.
The man and woman were probably bracing for impact just before the bison pulled up and stopped right in front of their vehicle. Commentary from the guy (which was accompanied by laughter once he realized they were okay) in the video was priceless:
“Oh my God. Good morning….I think we should just hang out here.”
With the bison standing still and the couple looking at it through the windshield, the woman within the car asked:
“Should we back up?”
The man, acting like a bison expert (like any man would in this situation), responded by saying:
“No, I would just stay right here.”
That answer seemed to do the trick, though the woman responded by giving her own piece of advice:
“Don’t look at him. I don’t want the car to get rammed.”
Ah yes, never look a bison in the eye… honestly, I don’t know if that’s good advice or not, but it stands to reason that direct eye contact could be perceived as a threat. I’m not sure if they can even see your eyes through the windshield, and I’d suppose that the two headlights look like a more menacing set of eyes than those of the person behind the wheel. But… who knows?
Apparently that strategy worked, because the bison eventually turned towards the vehicle, but ended up walking right by it (probably a little too close for comfort) and off the road.
You can view the close call in the footage below:
