Anybody else have an uncomfortable closeness to wildlife but were lucky in the encounter?
We were descending the switchback trails from the mud pots in Yellowstone a few years back. Came around a blind curve and there was a massive bull in front of us, maybe 8 or 9 feet away. It stated kicking and grunting as they do.
There were six of us and we made the collective and simultaneous decision to jump the rail fence and cut down to the next switchback, which you are not supposed to do due to fragile ground, etc.
Anywho, we made it to the bottom unscathed and, by then, laughing. I remember telling my marathoner sister-in-law that I was prepared to trip her if need be.
Little did we know, a huge group at the bottom of the hill was watching the whole thing, even knowing before we did that we were on a collision course. Man, they have us an earful, telling us we should have just double backed the whole way up and back down the other side.
It would have taken over an hour and we were hot and tired. I think we made the right call.
Up close with 2 bears and a buffalo.
Yeah, putting my suitcase in the trunk of my car in front of Yellowstone Lodge. Heard a noise and looked behind me and a buffalo was just standing there about 10 feet away, just looking at me. I never heard it come up behind me. We just looked at each other. It turned left, I turned right. No harm done except for the memory burned on my brain! Damn those things are BIG!
Once I was at the edge of a small lake in the high Rockies with my two small kids, a large bull moose was suddenly about 25 yards away. It was uncomfortably close to the rut. He was a nice boy, just kept munching and kept moving. I learned why even fishing at a popular spot, you have to carry something substantial, I wasn’t that day.
Yep. About 30 years ago, I was a Major in the Marines, serving as the Operations Officer of an artillery battalion at Camp Pendleton California. While I was scouting new firing positions with my Battalion Commander, we spotted a herd of 40 Buffalo grazing in our intended site.
My Battalion Commander looked at me and said "a real man would pet a buffalo". I looked back at him and said, "Sure".
I walked slowly down a hill towards the herd and decided to approach a young bull at the nearest point of the herd and talked to him in a low, friendly voice. When he would stop eating, I'd stop and talk to him some more. When he started eating again, I'd take more steps towards him. After a long, slow walk, I was right next to him and gently reached up to his shoulder at patted him - then I turned towards the Battalion commander and bowed.
The battalion commander (who'll you'll note that I am not naming: he made General) Yelled "...from the middle of the herd!"
I did walk into the herd for a little bit, but some calves walked towards me, apparently looking forward to being petted and the patriarch bull started pawing the ground, so I left very carefully.
I'm not sure what I proved but when it was my turn to command a battalion, I didn't ask anyone to do something that stupid.