Not A Fluffy Cow

Story and photo by Reid Neureiter

For the GPHN

The internet has been flooded lately with images and videos of national park visitors behaving badly near wildlife. While the close-callers have mostly lived to tell about it (and post the encounters on their feeds), it’s a good time to remind everyone that when it comes to wild animals, humans should proceed with caution.

Elk in Evergreen and Rocky Mountain National Park, moose in Grand and Summit counties, and bison at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge — while fascinating to watch — all deserve our respect. The National Park Service advises people, when viewing wildlife, to never approach animals. People should stay 100 yards away from predators such as bears and wolves, and at least 25 yards away from other animals, such as elk and bison. The “safest way” to view wildlife, says the park service, is from the safety of your car.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, just a few miles north of Park Hill, is prime wildlife viewing, including a herd of bison. Visitors to the bison area on the Wildlife Drive have the opportunity to see the beasts unimpeded by any fencing, and safely from their cars. That means never leave the car when you’re in the bison area. As those numerous internet videos mentioned earlier have demonstrated, a seemingly docile bison can turn and charge in an instant. No, they are not fluffy cows.

Seemingly close-up photographs of the bison at Rocky Mountain Arsenal (like the one pictured here) are usually taken with high-powered telephoto lenses from the safety of a vehicle or from behind the high fence that surrounds the bison area. This image of a bison bull rubbing off his winter coat at Rocky Mountain Arsenal was taken with the equivalent of 560 mm lens (11 times magnification) through the fencing at the end of Wildlife Drive.

Don’t spawn the next viral video by harassing the wildlife and getting gored.