Normally, a bison attack that injures someone in Yellowstone National Park wouldn’t warrant mention in a "Predator Watch" column. The National Park Service notes that bison injure more people than any other animal in Yellowstone, and after seeing more than enough videos of too-close-for-comfort bison encounters with humans, I almost didn’t bother watching the footage you’ll see below of what Montana photographer Mike MacLeod described as an “angry, pissed off” bull bison charging at a grandfather who was in the Bridge Bay Campground in Wyoming with his grandson. But once you see it, you'll probably find yourself watching it again.
MacLeod, who recorded the frightening moment on July 10, told Wyoming’s Cowboy State Daily, “I was just trying to get some dramatic footage of that bison having a fit.” He explained that the grandfather wasn’t the bison’s initial target: It first charged at some teenagers “who were taking pictures on their cellphones from a good distance away.” The teenagers managed to evade the animal, but MacLeod, who was once a combat photographer in the Army, said he “could see this thing coming.” The giveaway that something bad was about to happen? The bison kept running through the campground as people screamed at each other.
Then came the calm before the storm as the bull began rolling around in a patch of dirt. That’s when the victim, 65-year-old Carl Isom-McDaniel, and his grandson appeared, staying farther away than the 25 yards recommended by the National Park Service. With the bull appearing calm, they stopped to take some photographs. The Cowboy State Daily reports what happened next:
“He was sitting in the dust, like bison do, with his head out towards the road,” MacLeod said. “When the bison started to get up, the grandfather's like, ‘OK, time to leave,’ and they moved off behind these trees.”
Then, a white pickup appeared. For whatever reason, that set the bison off again.
“The bison was charging the truck,” MacLeod said. “The guy in the truck saw that happening, and he just kept going. The bison (then went) to where these two were hiding in the trees.”
After expending some of its energy on a sapling, the bison tore into the trees and chased the victim and his grandson.
While the grandson escaped, his grandfather wasn’t so fortunate. The bison chased him around the trees while he tried to escape.
Then, according to MacLeod, the victim got flipped.
You don't have to take MacLeod's word for it. Watch as Isom-McDaniel is thrown about 8 feet into the air by the charging animal.
What the video doesn't show is the bison standing over Isom-McDaniel after he lands on the ground, shaking its head. That's because MacLeod, fearing that the grandfather was about to be gored, stopped recording and — in a heroic move we've seen more than once in "Predator Watch"— ran toward the danger, yelling and "trying to be as big and intimidating as possible." Fortunately, the bison ran off after other people also rushed toward it.
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Isom-McDaniel was left with multiple broken bones but is in good spirits, according to the New York Times. After watching the video — and considering that male bison can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and run as fast as 30 mph — it seems almost miraculous that the attack wasn’t fatal.
So why was the bison so aggressive? The Cowboy State Daily has the answer: "The biological explanation for what happened is the annual bison rut, which runs from June to September. During that time, bull bison surge with energy and aggression as they compete for dominance and females."
