The rut is on

By Mark Davis, Powell Tribune
Posted 8/20/24

POWELL — While not intended for their human audience, the reverberating guttural warnings from massive bull bison during the rut in Yellowstone National Park should be enough to let visitors …

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The rut is on

Posted

POWELL — While not intended for their human audience, the reverberating guttural warnings from massive bull bison during the rut in Yellowstone National Park should be enough to let visitors know these powerful wild animals are not to be challenged.

The rut lasts from mid-July through September, according to park officials.

Bulls will mate with multiple females over the course of a single season; however, female bison (cows) will mate with only one bull.

“It’s important to remember that during the rut, bulls are on high alert and can get aggravated easily and the fights are not limited to off-pavement areas,” park officials said in a recent post on social media.

Those living in or near the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem know better than to challenge the massive beasts. Yet, of the millions of visits to the park a year, there are a few who are willing to get within range of the unpredictable animals — especially during the rut.

Most of those who do have a physical encounter with the one-ton behemoths come to regret their decisions as they’re being toted to the nearest hospital — often in an extremely expensive trip by helicopter.

On average, there are one to two reported incidents of bison injuring visitors annually.

The most in recent history was five injuries in 2015.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, over the history of the national park (dating back to 1872) two people have been killed as a result of bison encounters.

Last June, shortly after the park opened all its gates for the year, an 83-year-old woman from South Carolina was gored and seriously injured by a bison that was defending its space, park officials said at the time.

Incidents are so frequent that a Cody pizza restaurant is named Tossers and features a logo of a tourist being tossed by a bison.

When viewed from the relative safety of a vehicle or the minimum distance of 25 yards (75 feet) prescribed by park regulations, the bison rut is one of the most memorable and accessible events at the nation’s first national park. Of course, it’s never close enough for those armed with cellphone cameras.

Few realize the animals are agile, can spin around quickly, jump high fences, are strong swimmers and can run at a top speed of 35 mph.

“Bison are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans,” according to a publication by Yellowstone Public Affairs Officer Morgan Warthin, recently released after a bison encounter resulted in serious injuries.