\u201cThe rangers shot the elk to put it out of its misery, and the grizzly went in, dragged it out of the pond, and started eating on the carcass,\u201d Pichette said.<\/p>\n
Getting a good glimpse of a grizzly on a carcass is a gold mine for tourists and photographers. Pichette was one of nearly two dozen people set up along the road overlooking the site where the grizzly was gorging itself.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the bison butted in.<\/p>\n
We were all lined up taking pictures, chatting, and waiting for something to happen,\u201d Pichette said. \u201cThen, all of a sudden, one of the rangers told us a bison was coming up the hill, right in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Curious-bison-Unknown-9.29.25.jpeg\")
A crowd of about 40 people had stopped on a road in Yellowstone National Park photographing a large grizzly gnawing on a carcass in a recent wildlife photo op. While they were focused on the bear, a large bison crashed the party, sending them scrambling. (Courtesy Nancy Pichette)Bison Butts In<\/p>\n
Bison are everywhere in Yellowstone, but they\u2019re usually easy enough to spot and avoid. That doesn\u2019t stop people from getting too close, but it\u2019s typically hard to honestly argue that a 1,800-pound animal \u201csnuck up on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this instance, nobody was expecting a bison. They were focused on the grizzly and the carcass, but Pichette said the spot where they were standing didn\u2019t seem very bison-friendly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody saw him at first,\u201d she said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have thought a bison would walk up to where we were, as it was a very steep embankment, but it just popped up in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of cameras, tripods, and spotting scopes were hastily abandoned to give the bison a wide berth. The bison seemed mildly curious about the abundance of equipment and was clearly undeterred by the number of people on its chosen path.<\/p>\n
Instead, it found an opening and deftly moved between the forest of tripods to continue on its way. Pichette left her camera behind but was lucky enough to have a second camera in her vehicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where I took the pictures,\u201d she said. \u201cHe crested the hill, walked past everything, crossed the road, and kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Curious-bison-Unknown-3-9.29.25.jpeg\")
A crowd of about 40 people had stopped on a road in Yellowstone National Park photographing a large grizzly gnawing on a carcass in a recent wildlife photo op. While they were focused on the bear, a large bison crashed the party, sending them scrambling. (Courtesy Nancy Pichette)Bow Before The Bison<\/p>\n
Wolves and grizzlies might be Yellowstone\u2019s top predators, but there\u2019s no debate which animal demands the most respect in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Bison seem placid, but they cause more visitor injuries than any other animal in Yellowstone National Park.<\/p>\n
Visitors are asked to maintain a distance of at least 25 yards between themselves and all bison. Ignoring that distance is usually how\u00a0human-bison incidents often occur<\/a>, which\u00a0can result in serious injuries<\/a>\u00a0and, at least twice in Yellowstone\u2019s history, death.<\/p>\n However, sometimes there\u2019s nothing one can do when a bison decides to close the distance. Tourists visiting the Lamar Valley in February learned that the hard way, after a stampeding bison\u00a0turned and ran toward a crowd<\/a>\u00a0watching a winter wolf hunt.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of running the opposite way, the bison ran towards everybody watching them,\u201d said wildlife photographer Jeff Vanuga in February 2025. \u201cThey threaded their way through a few vehicles, snowmobiles, and at least 50 people watching everything that morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately, nobody was injured. It could have gone much differently, resulting in multiple injuries as the thousand-pound animal slammed into or knocked people over at full speed.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that last bison decided to go straight, it would\u2019ve gone quite differently,\u201d Vanuga said. \u201cSomething worse could have happened, but I think everyone handled it properly.\u201d<\/p>\n Pichette said the bison that broke up the bear viewing party seemed to be unperturbed by the crowd. They just happened to be on the bison\u2019s predetermined path, and everyone in the vicinity hustled away to ensure their safety as it strolled through<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a good thing that the ranger saw it ahead of time and yelled to let everyone know a bison was coming,\u201d she said. \u201cEverybody listened and ran back and got back to the vehicles or at least got out of its way.\u201d<\/p>\n