Playing Dead is an Unusual Defense Against a Yellowstone Bison

People somehow believe bison are like big stuffed animals you can cuddle.  I came across a story I wrote a few years ago about a man being gored at Yellowstone National Park.  By a bison.  An animal that resembles a furry mid-size SUV.  I get updates on my phone about stupid tourists visiting Yellowstone Park.  Updates almost daily.  One was about a group of about two dozen people attempting to take selfies with a bear.  None of them looked like they could outrun the animal, much less run.

They Outweigh You By Hundreds of Pounds

Considering the volume of tourists who visit Yellowstone, the dummies are a small percentage.  Considering the same volume, there are still a lot of dummies.  Many of the videos that get released about animal encounters gone wrong don’t specify when things happened.  Yet videos keep popping up as if on a delayed release program.  The following link shows a video of a windy day when a pair of bison reach their boiling point.  A running tourist then falls.  He then plays dead.  It appears to confuse the big furry creature.

I Guess in a Panic Any Strategy Beats None

I always thought playing dead was something Bugs Bunny did in a cartoon when approached by a bear (the bear buries Bugs).  A fiction.

Then I watched the video from Yellowstone and, while I wouldn’t recommend playing dead, maybe it would work on rare occasions.  Of course, if you weren’t taunting or attempting to pet bison in the first place, you wouldn’t find yourself in trouble.  As I said in a previous post.  When it comes to wild animals, I tend to give them a wide berth when I see them.  I don’t need a selfie.  I’m more entertained by the videos.