A seasonal mechanic driving through Yellowstone National Park stopped his pickup truck to avoid hitting a bison, but the bison hit him anyway. Kyle Weber was headed home after a summer working at gas stations in Yellowstone Park. On Thursday morning, he left Canyon Village in his old Ford Ranger and drove south toward Fishing Bridge. At 2:45 a.m., Weber encountered a male bison on the road near Mud Volcano. “I was going through the trees, coming around the corner, and I saw a bison on the road,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I hit the brakes, stopped, and sat there watching and waiting for him to keep going.” At first, the bull bison didn’t seem bothered, he said. He appeared to ignore the vehicle as Weber waited for him to continue forward. Suddenly, the bison ran toward Weber’s truck and slammed its massive head into the left side. “I was definitely startled by that thing,” he said. “I knew they hit hard, but it was pretty hard. It pushed my truck back at least a foot and a half.” Once it hit the front of the truck, the bison turned its tail and ran away without exchanging information. The bison’s hit dented the truck’s bumper, broke the side marker light and left a sizable dent in the hood. Weber’s dash cam captured the entire incident. “My wheel scrapes the bumper when I make tight turns, but the headlights and everything else work fine,” Weber said. “It’s not as bad as it could have been, but it’s still not great.” Road Hazards The speed limit in most of Yellowstone is 45 mph, but the park encourages drivers to go slower in many sections. It’s especially important at night, when the forest-lined corridors are nearly dark and filled with bison. Bison traffic jams often cause traffic congestion in the park. There are safe and acceptable ways to pass them, but most people stop to take photos or avoid causing the huge animals to damage their vehicles. Stephen Borgmier, Weber’s co-worker, expects to find bison along the way, especially at night. It’s more inevitable than occasional in Yellowstone. “My wife and I were leaving Fishing Bridge about three weeks ago in the dark,” he said. “A bison appeared on the road and stopped, then two or three more approached us.” One of the bison, a bull, stopped moving as soon as it came into the vehicle’s headlights. Borgmier said as soon as his wife dimmed the lights, the bull started moving again. He said he thinks that could explain what happened to his friend Thursday morning, at least partially. “He seemed blinded by the headlights,” he said. “I don’t know, but maybe the headlights are what exasperated the bison to attack.” Bison are dangerous at night because their dark pelts make them difficult to see, especially around curves. Additionally, bison’s eyes do not reflect in headlights the same way that deer and elk do because they lack a reflective layer on the back of their eyes. A bison was fatally struck by a vehicle in Yellowstone Thursday night, less than 24 hours after what happened to Weber. A seasonal mechanic driving through Yellowstone National Park in the dark Thursday morning stopped to avoid hitting a male bison standing in the road at Mud Volcano. The bison crashed into his truck anyway, leaving a large dent in the hood before running away. (Stephen Borgmier) Slower Retreat Due to Traffic Use After the bison hit-and-run, Weber continued driving and encountered the same bison that hit him later. “Unfortunately, he went in the same direction as me,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I followed him directly as far back as possible, where I could still see him with my headlights.” Weber’s relief came in the form of retreat. When the bison left the road and entered the retreat zone, Weber passed it and gave it a wide berth. “I sped past him to make sure he didn’t come out in front of me or next to me again,” he said. “So it was fun.” Weber considered what he could have done differently to prevent his bison from hitting his truck. In retrospect, he couldn’t think of anything that would have worked. “They usually continue on their way,” he said. “I could have backed off, maybe backed up a little, but I didn’t know if moving him would agitate him. He seemed agitated when I stopped, so I thought staying still was my best option. And I could have been. Who knows? Borgmier just finished his ninth season at the Yellowstone Park gas stations, managing the Fishing Bridge station. “We work on tour cars and RVs that have problems while they’re in the park,” he said. “I’m retired, but most of our mechanics are. in school. They come here to work during their summer vacation and go back to school during the winter.” Because most of Borgmier’s mechanics are college students, they are simply trying to survive with what they do during the summer. Deliberate damage to the bison could affect anyone’s budget, but even a mechanic could struggle to cover the costs. To Borgmier’s surprise, the damage to Weber’s Ranger was mostly superficial. It will probably be improved immediately, but even with the video, Borgmier does not Weber believes the damage to the Chevy S-10 was mostly superficial. It will probably be fixed quickly, but even with the video, Borgmier doesn’t believe the driver will file a claim. “He just got out of school, so I doubt he has anything more than liability,” he said. Instead, both men hope the video reminds owners of Yellowstone roads. “We hope it helps someone else avoid the same situation in the future,” Borgmier said. of the roads in Yellowstone, and he found out the hard way.” Cool Little Keepsake Weber, who graduated from technical school in the spring, doesn’t plan to go through insurance. He intends to repair the damage himself. “I’m definitely going to replace the bumper and side marker at some point,” he said, “I already had some upgrades in mind, so I guess now is a good time to install them.” The easiest thing to fix, the dented hood, is the only thing. Weber figures he’ll keep it as is. No everyone can say they have bison damage decorating their vehicle. “I think I’ll keep it,” he said. “It’s got a cool story behind it, and after a great summer where I met so many people and saw so many great things, it’s a cool little souvenir.” The bison crashed into his truck anyway, leaving a big dent in the hood before running off. (Stephen Borgmier) Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
