Dodging Elk In Yellowstone

September 14, 2006

Dodging Elk As we viewed the wildlife of Yellowstone National Park, I reminded my three brothers (Scott, John & Peter) about the dangers of watching bull elk when they are rutting. By way of illustration, I related the story about watching a large, bull elk attacking an automobile at Mammoth Hot Springs several years ago. For no apparent reason, the bull lowered his head and charged a small car. The heavy antlers bent the door, broke the window and almost hit the passenger inside.

Mammoth Hot Springs Consequently, as we now approached the same area, we were wary about approaching a large bull elk that was resting on the lawn. But we wanted a good photo and felt relatively safe inside Scott’s F-150 Ford, extended cab pickup as he drove nearby for a photo. Scott knew that he could accelerate rapidly and probably outrun the bull if it chose to charge us. The bull appeared unthreatening, so we took a few photos and drove about 50 yards away to park -thinking that we might take a few additional photos from a safe distance. Other tourists were wandering around the yard and a herd of elk cows and calves grazed peacefully nearby. As we

exited the pickup, we noticed that the bull was now standing and began walking slowly toward a spot behind our pickup. We began to take photos as the docile-appearing bull walked slowly toward us. When we decided he was approaching too close to us, it was too late. If we backed out of our parking place, we would back directly into his path and that might incite his anger. We opened the doors of the pickup so that we could retreat into the relative safety of the pickup if the bull decided to charge us. As it passed maybe 20 yards behind the tail of the pickup, we continued taking photographs of the magnificent animal.

Mad Bull Elk It stopped behind the truck, looked at us, bugled and then turned to saunter toward the driver(s side of the truck. As this massive animal passed on the driver(s side he loomed large over the truck which now seemed miniature in size and hardly the fortress that we had envisioned. As he approached, my two brothers (for some unknown reason) had left the potential safety inside their pickup doors and ran around the front of the pickup so that all four of us were now on the passenger side of the truck. Near the driver’s door, the bull stopped, lifted his head and began to bugle toward his harem or maybe to answer another bull who was bugling in the neighborhood. He was so close that we could see the mud on his rack and the look in his eyes. His facial expression did not exactly radiate a friendly demeanor. Suddenly, the bull started trotting toward the front of the truck and we all retreated around the rear of the truck. The bull, from maybe 10 yards away, turned and faced the right front of the truck and lowered his head in

a very threatening posture. It then turned and faced the pickup with eyes that glowed red (but I probably invented the red-eyed part. Anyway, when it appeared that he was intent on impaling all four of us on his massive antlers, I ran up and dove into the driver’s seat. I hesitated to move over to the passenger side because the bull’s antlers were aimed at that location. But my brother, Scott, loudly encouraged me to vacate his driver(s seat so that he could escape those giant antlers too. By then, my brothers, John and Peter, were safely ensconced in the back seat. As I squeezed over the console between the front bucket seats of the pickup, the bull charged. As Yogi Berra would say, it was like deja vu all over again. At a minimum, if this bull hit the front of the pickup, it(s antlers would puncture the radiator, knock out the right front headlight, bend the grill and totally shake up the nervous passengers inside. I waited for the tinkle of broken glass and the crash of crunching metal, but inches short, the bull stopped his attack then calmly turned and walked away toward the harem he had just protected. All we could do is stare at each other and wonder how we had let this all happen. What had we done to provoke this bull to take such drastic action? Had he stalked us from the beginning? Did we come between him and his harem? Did the flash of our cameras set him off? Or maybe he was just bored and wanted to put the fear of God into some Texas boys who once thought of themselves as a rather macho bunch. To add insult to injury, a small crowd of tourists, at a safe distance, had watched this scene. They took photos and great pleasure from our predicament. (Tourists can be such nasty people!) Anyway, with the bull at a safe distance, Scott put that pickup in rear drive and then left a little rubber as we put space between ourselves and that psychotic bull. By now we were all loud with nervous laughter and feeling a little foolish, but very glad that a visit to an auto body shop or the hospital -- was not required. Winfield