No Buffalo This Week

Buffalo...they are a part of life in Yellowstone. They are everywhere. I am more scared of buffalo than any other animal in Yellowstone. You might be thinking about bears, wolves or mountain lions as the scariest but unlike buffalo they are not everywhere. Buffalo are on the roads, winter and summer, they are outside your door at any time, you can see them when you look out the window at work, and they are on the ski trails.

During the summer of '98 I was working at Canyon Village as an assistant manager of one of the cabin areas. I was in the office looking out the window and one of our resident buffalo, Bob, was being approached by a tourist. As he got closer and closer I could feel myself tensing. Finally he got so close I knew it was going to happen. I ran to the door of the office and was just about to yell at him to back up when it happened. Bob moved with so much speed that I only saw the man flying through the air and land. I went back to my desk and call 911 and rangers were there in minutes. He was not seriously hurt but they took him out in an ambulance just in case. One thing that happens is that people thing that buffalo are just cows and they don't realize that they can run up to 30 mph, they can jump a 6 foot fence and they weigh a ton. I know that not everyone will fear buffalo but they should at least have a healthy respect for them.

Patty found out my fear the hard way. Our first winter we borrowed a snowmobile to go to West Yellowstone for the day. We were on the road between Madison Junction and West when we saw a herd of buffalo ahead of us. This was our first trip in Yellowstone on a snowmobile and we didn't know what to do. A ranger came up behind us and told us not to try to go through them because they were antsy that day. He then told us that there were more buffalo behind us and if they started walking by us to turn off the snowmobile, get off of it and stand on the other side of it. I thought he was crazy but when the buffalo started to walk by that is what we did. Then it happened. One buffalo stopped right by us, turned towards us and started moving his head up and down and stomping his hooves. Patty and I were standing side by side and I grabbed him and moved him in front of me. At least now I had a snowmobile and Patty between me and this angry animal. Patty yelled at me and asked "What do you think you are doing?" I yelled back, "If you were my grandma I would do this right now!" Then I shoved him toward the snowmobile and jumped into the snow at the edge of the road. I still think about this day and wonder. That was our first month or two of dating and 11 years later I want to ask what HE was thinking that day. Best not to ask too many questions though.

I bring this all up because we have a herd of buffalo that hang out around here all the time. All week I have been bringing my camera to the Snowlodge so I could take pictures on my way to work. They have been around but they were camera shy this week. I did take some pictures of where they would normally be.

As long as I live here I will be nervous around these animals. If you ever have the

pleasure of riding in a car with me around the park and we end up in a buffalo

jam you will notice me rolling up the windows and turning down the music.

Silly, I know but it's nice to know that with me some things never

change.