The Bear and the Buffalo

This was such an amazing thing to see that I'm going to tell about it in it's own post.

The one day that we spent in Yellowstone was wonderful. We saw most of what we wanted to see. I'll post pictures in the next post. We didn't get to drive all the way north because of sleet and snow in the higher elevations, but we did get to see Old Faithful, the mud volcanoes, and lots of beautiful scenery!

The highlight of the Yellowstone experience happened as we had just started the drive north. We came upon a river in an area that was mostly just rolling hills and grassland. There was a car stopped and the people were out of the car looking at something down by the river. One man had actually climbed up on a ridge beside the river to get a better look.

When you see cars stopped in Yellowstone, it usually means there is wildlife nearby. What they were looking at was a buffalo. When I first saw it, it was wading in the water. Suddenly, it left the water and started running along the river bank toward those people, and it didn't seem happy! By this time, other people had stopped and were shouting at the man who had been on the ridge to get in his car. He hesitated WAY longer than I would have!!! Anyway, the buffalo charged toward the people. The man jumped in the car and started to pull away, just as the buffalo reached the back of his car. As the car pulled away, the buffalo stopped and stared after it. He didn't seem interested in any of the other cars or people.

In the meantime, on the opposite side of the river (the side we were on). before the buffalo reached the road, a grizzly bear came around the bend and up the hill. He too, began to run toward the people!!! The bear and the buffalo ended up being on the road at about the same time. By this time all people were safe in their cars. The buffalo crossed the road and climbed high on a hill where he stopped and turned to glare at the people! The bear crossed the road, climbed a different hill, and disappeared over the ridge.

I only regret that I didn't have time to get video! Here are some pictures that Gary and I got between the two of us - they aren't the greatest because we where having to shoot so fast, but at least you can get the idea.

Vicki