July 23, 2010 9:47 AM

Caught On Tape: Bison Attacks Tourists at Yellowstone

By
Michael Wuebben
Topics
(CBS)  A trip to Yellowstone National Park turned into a nightmare for a group of tourists.

Cathy Hayes, a teacher from Utah, was catching a bison on video, joking with her husband, Jeff, and his brother, Donald, about getting a shot of Donald being gored by the animal -- when Donald got too close - and it attacked.

The bison, clearly agitated, charged Donald and then Cathy, sending her into a panic. She ran for cover behind a tree, but the bison kept coming.

The car horn honking is clearly audible as Jeff tries to deter the bison. So is his yells of "Back," and screams - with the video rolling all the while.

"I could hear him over me stomping and snorting," Cathy said later, "and I just knew. I knew at that second that was it. You know, I thought, "This is going to be my last moment. It's going to be in Yellowstone Park getting tromped by a buffalo." "

On The Early Show" Friday, Cathy told co-anchor Chris Wragge the bison "flipped me end-over-end like a rag doll, in the air."

It turned out she didn't suffer life-threatening injuries, but was pretty badly banged up. Her knee was the size of a football and she has big brusies ans scrapes on her leg. Donald broke his shoulder when he tripped and fell.

And the incident may not have been the bison's fault.

A second look at Cathy's video shows the animal was apparently provoked. It seems the bison was hit it in the back with a stick -- a vivid reminder of the park's policy to keep your distance from wildlife.

Add a Comment
by rlynnkco July 25, 2010 1:43 PM EDT
I hope they were fined for harassment of wildlife! A pic of them with there crutches and sling and a ranger handing them a several thousand dollar ticket posted at all the parking lots might help others to get a clue as well.
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by parrismr July 23, 2010 6:29 PM EDT
Didn't you love how they tried to explain the stick ... "it was already on the animal and when he kicked it moved or some lame ass crap" ... look at the video! You can clearly see that the stick comes flying in an strikes the bison on the back. In my book, they got everything they deserved and we'll like be reading about them as part of the Darwin Awards one day. Idiots!
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by tac1117 July 23, 2010 6:29 PM EDT
We were in Yellowstone for vacation a week in June. We seen a lot of bison and people photographing them but no one got close enough to them which included the ones that were creating bison jams. Throwing an object at them to get their attention should get them the result they recieved. They claim that they did not throw anything at it but what I could see from the video someone did. This bison had to be triggered to get it do do this and the NPS should fine these people for this stunt.
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by wisemanIII July 23, 2010 3:35 PM EDT
The park service should fine them for harassment of the wildlife at the park. You whip a stick at a wild animal, bigger than yourself and it defends itself. How dumb do you have to be. I think this has been done before in black and white. It was done by LARRY,Curly and MOE who were much better looking than these three.
Reply to this comment
by Angelstar777 July 23, 2010 10:44 AM EDT
I have one question: Who through the white object at the bison? End of story.
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