A bison recently demonstrated why getting too close to nature is no laughing matter.
The Instagram account Tourons of Yellowstone (@touronsofyellowstone), which has nearly 500,000 followers, shared a video of tourists whose vehicle ended up on the receiving end of a bison's horns.
In the beginning of the clip, someone is heard laughing before the clearly perturbed creature ducks its head and slams into the car, seemingly causing it to lift a few inches off the ground.
"He rammed the car," one of the tourists says in apparent disbelief.
"Not so funny now," one commenter said.
Happily, the tourists did the right thing by not honking their horn or trying to exit the vehicle, as the aftermath of the encounter shows that there may be a costly repair job on the horizon. The bison had shredded part of the hood.
According to the National Park Service, more people in Yellowstone are injured by bison than any other animal, including grizzly bears and wolves, and it is recommended to keep your distance from the easily startled creatures.
Bison can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds and run much faster than humans, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, making it a life-threatening situation if they charge.
People who have not heeded the instructions to stay at least 75 feet from the animals have had to make a run for it on more than one occasion.
While vacationing close to home is a great way to save money and reduce planet-warming pollution, there have sadly been times when even well-meaning efforts to interact with nature have counteracted those benefits.
In May, a baby bison had to be euthanized after a man helped it out of a river.
According to a release by the U.S. Department of Justice District of Wyoming on NPS.gov, the calf's interaction with a human caused it to be "abandoned by the herd." This created a dangerous situation when the young animal began "approaching cars and people along the roadway."
In this case, the bison-aware tourists were just "unlucky," according to Tourons of Yellowstone.
"Just a reminder to make sure you have good [car] insurance coverage before going into Yellowstone!" they wrote.
"Good thing they have video. Their insurance would never believe that story," one commenter said.
"If they can do that to a car, imagine what they can do to a human body," another person wrote.
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