Young woman gored by Bison - why are people so stupid?

[Anonymous]

The warning signs at Yellowstone are everywhere and pretty clear.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-7-21-16.htm

I had an inadvertent close encounter with a bison there many years ago. I had stepped a few yards off a prairie trail to pee behind a shrub and when I re-emerged there was a lone bison between me and the trail. I don’t know if it was 10 feet from me but it certainly wasn’t 25 yards. It was terrifying. I slowly walked backward taking a wide arc back to the trail. I have no idea if that was the “right” thing to do but it is what seemed non confrontational to me. It watched me for a little while, then kept going on its way.

I can’t imagine choosing to approach one of those creatures,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:9 people also died doing water sports over the holiday weekend (and that's just the major headline news) - respectively 3 parasailing in FL, 5 went over a waterfall in VA, 1 motorboating somewhere.

I consider all risky propositions stupid.

IMO there is a huge difference between going parasailing (assuming reasonable due diligence) and dying because of the negligence of the operator vs walking up to a bison for a photo.

They didn't die through the negligence of an operator. A freak gale spun up and threw the equipment off course. In other words, they died because of Mother Nature just like the woman with the bison.

That's not even remotely equivalent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:9 people also died doing water sports over the holiday weekend (and that's just the major headline news) - respectively 3 parasailing in FL, 5 went over a waterfall in VA, 1 motorboating somewhere.

I consider all risky propositions stupid.

I heard about the 2 who were lost going over a dam in Virginia (out of a group of 12) - are you referring to them or others?

Oh you're right - the 10 others were recovered/made it to shore after going over this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And lots more people die falling down stairs in their own home...


OP, I know your point is that this person died by going out of her way to provoke a dangerous animal, but... I'm sure you've taken deadly risks in your life without even realizing how risky they were. People walk up to bison all the time, without mishap, and this is the time the bison decided it had enough. That woman probably saw others do it without getting harmed, and didn't calculate the risk. I could say the same of everyone who looks at their phone while driving. "Lots of people do it too!" is not a guarantee of safety.

Give me a break. If the chance of dying from falling down stairs is 1 in 1,000,000....well I go up and down my stairs 10 times a day. Most people don't encounter a bison in their lifetime, let alone go close to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And lots more people die falling down stairs in their own home...


OP, I know your point is that this person died by going out of her way to provoke a dangerous animal, but... I'm sure you've taken deadly risks in your life without even realizing how risky they were. People walk up to bison all the time, without mishap, and this is the time the bison decided it had enough. That woman probably saw others do it without getting harmed, and didn't calculate the risk. I could say the same of everyone who looks at their phone while driving. "Lots of people do it too!" is not a guarantee of safety.

Of course I take deadly risks. Getting in the car is a deadly risk. You decide it's important and you mitigate as best you can with safety measures and driving carefully. That's not the same thing as walking up to a bison. Looking at your phone while driving IS stupid though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9 people also died doing water sports over the holiday weekend (and that's just the major headline news) - respectively 3 parasailing in FL, 5 went over a waterfall in VA, 1 motorboating somewhere.

I consider all risky propositions stupid.

recreational boating is so much more dangerous than people think … I’ve only been on 2 boats in the past 10 yrs and there were almost very serious accidents on both. no thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:9 people also died doing water sports over the holiday weekend (and that's just the major headline news) - respectively 3 parasailing in FL, 5 went over a waterfall in VA, 1 motorboating somewhere.

I consider all risky propositions stupid.

I heard about the 2 who were lost going over a dam in Virginia (out of a group of 12) - are you referring to them or others?

Oh you're right - the 10 others were recovered/made it to shore after going over this.

OMG why do they even allow these things!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:9 people also died doing water sports over the holiday weekend (and that's just the major headline news) - respectively 3 parasailing in FL, 5 went over a waterfall in VA, 1 motorboating somewhere.

I consider all risky propositions stupid.

I heard about the 2 who were lost going over a dam in Virginia (out of a group of 12) - are you referring to them or others?

Oh you're right - the 10 others were recovered/made it to shore after going over this.

OMG why do they even allow these things!

dams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:9 people also died doing water sports over the holiday weekend (and that's just the major headline news) - respectively 3 parasailing in FL, 5 went over a waterfall in VA, 1 motorboating somewhere.

I consider all risky propositions stupid.

I heard about the 2 who were lost going over a dam in Virginia (out of a group of 12) - are you referring to them or others?

Oh you're right - the 10 others were recovered/made it to shore after going over this.

OMG why do they even allow these things!

Here's a news article - the river was extremely high from the rain and there were several water rescues on that river:

https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/people-confirmed-missing-after-group-goes-over-richmond-bosher-dam/

[Anonymous]

I dunno, I feel bad for her. Lots of people do stupid things and some just luck out and don’t die.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work closely with the NPS, this is very, very common. LOTS of people die each year in National Parks due to their own negligence. I think a lot of people aren't savvy about wildlife or nature and it's their first time in a rural, natural place. City people thinking it's an amusement park. NPS has tons and tons of signs everywhere about bison, not walking into hot springs, not walking off the cliff at the Grand Canyon, not getting lost in the woods where there's not cell reception, on and on.

I will bet you $50 that she is not a "city person." I don't think that is a real thing. A "city person" might be more likely to underestimate the weather and end up lost or dehydrated on a hike, but I don't think there's anything about being a "city person" that makes you more likely to decide you know better than 10000 signs and approach a bison.

PP here. I am not making fun of city people or suburbanites, just they aren't outdoorsmen or used to things like this. People are used to seeing animals at zoos who are a bit more "trained" and used to people (ie, they know they can't attack people because of fences or whatnot).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I dunno, I feel bad for her. Lots of people do stupid things and some just luck out and don’t die.

+1

I do too. She went on vacation and didn't come back. If she went with a group or solo, some one or some people will be missing her.

And the group who went tubing too close to the dam, they lost two of their group. I can't imagine the horror of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work closely with the NPS, this is very, very common. LOTS of people die each year in National Parks due to their own negligence. I think a lot of people aren't savvy about wildlife or nature and it's their first time in a rural, natural place. City people thinking it's an amusement park. NPS has tons and tons of signs everywhere about bison, not walking into hot springs, not walking off the cliff at the Grand Canyon, not getting lost in the woods where there's not cell reception, on and on.

I will bet you $50 that she is not a "city person." I don't think that is a real thing. A "city person" might be more likely to underestimate the weather and end up lost or dehydrated on a hike, but I don't think there's anything about being a "city person" that makes you more likely to decide you know better than 10000 signs and approach a bison.

Agreed. City people have enough street smarts to know not to do something like this. She was from Ohio.

[Anonymous]

UMC suburb of Columbus, not Appalachia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work closely with the NPS, this is very, very common. LOTS of people die each year in National Parks due to their own negligence. I think a lot of people aren't savvy about wildlife or nature and it's their first time in a rural, natural place. City people thinking it's an amusement park. NPS has tons and tons of signs everywhere about bison, not walking into hot springs, not walking off the cliff at the Grand Canyon, not getting lost in the woods where there's not cell reception, on and on.

I will bet you $50 that she is not a "city person." I don't think that is a real thing. A "city person" might be more likely to underestimate the weather and end up lost or dehydrated on a hike, but I don't think there's anything about being a "city person" that makes you more likely to decide you know better than 10000 signs and approach a bison.

PP here. I am not making fun of city people or suburbanites, just they aren't outdoorsmen or used to things like this. People are used to seeing animals at zoos who are a bit more "trained" and used to people (ie, they know they can't attack people because of fences or whatnot).

I think city people have a healthy appreciation for animals outside of zoos. We do not f&^ with raccoons or aggressive dogs. Living in a city does not make you not understand what a fence does.