"Calgary" <actual.rider_remove_the_obvious_@telus.net> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 06:20:49 -0700, redshad <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>
>>Can you ride a motorcycle all thru Yellowstone?
> Sure.
>
>>No wild animals are
>>going to chase you??
>
> Although we didn't get chased we did come around one corner and saw
> the vehicles traveling in the opposite direction stopped because of
> this big, ugly, mangy bison standing in the middle of the road. We
> stopped maybe 20 meters short of the animal.
>
> He had that "I am the alpha male, I own this road and I don't like
> motorcycles" look in his eyes.
>
> After backing our bikes up a meter or so the beast began moving
> directly towards us. I was eyeballing the road to see if there was
> enough room to do a full lock turn and beat feet out of there. When he
> got within five meters of us he slowly moved to the right side of the
> road and my riding buds and I quickly road around on the open side of
> the road.
>
> In my mind I was thinking these animals have got to be near
> domesticated with all the traffic there and probably would not charge
> the bikes, but I was also thinking of the advice from one of the
> Rangers the night before to walk clear of the bison cuz they were out
> of sorts right now.
>
> Once clear of the animal we all had a good laugh, as did the car
> drivers watching the incident.
>
>
> --
>
> I have taken a vow of poverty. If you want to really **** me off, send
> money.
Interesting Bison story. I didn't know much about this
animal, so I dug up this narrative:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/wica/bison.htm
Just a few of the more notable descriptions.
1). "The best description of a Bison's temperament is
UNPREDICTABLE.(quoted CAPS)".
2). "They may attack anything, often without warning
or apparent reason".
3). "They can move at speeds of up to thirty-five miles
per hour and cover long distances at a lumbering
gallop".
"and my favorite"....
4). "Their most obvious weapon is the horns that both
male and female have. But their head, with its massive
skull, can be used as a battering ram, effectively using
the momentum produced by two thousand pounds
moving at thirty miles per hour!"
"And the potential devastation capabilities of this animal
go on, and on, and on".
I'd say that anyone on a motorcycle would be very wise
to just avoid such a creature. <g>