There is a reason that the employees of national parks, preserves, monuments, and pretty much anyone who has any experience around large animals, will tell you not to approach large animals. That's because they can be dangerous. This seems an extreme example of belaboring the obvious, but there are always those who just aren't picking up what the people who know about wildlife are putting down.

At least the people on this tour bus in Yellowstone National Park stayed on the bus when it got caught up in a bison stampede.

A group of tourists likely saw their lives flash before their eyes when a bison herd charged at their bus in Yellowstone National Park last month.

Video posted to Instagram shows the massive creatures bulldozing toward the stationary snowcoach before veering off to the side of the road at the last second.

Yeah, don't sign me up to play "chicken" with a bison stampede!

The bison population in Yellowstone has ranged anywhere from 3,000 to nearly 6,000 in recent years. In the winter, these animals migrate up to 70 miles from their summer ranges to lower elevation areas that tend to get less snow.

Now, take a look at the video in question, and you'll see why these folks probably didn't see their lives flash before their eyes.

For once, tourists did the smart thing and stayed on the bus, although, to be fair, they didn't have much opportunity to make that particular stupid mistake. If someone had pulled such a knuckleheaded stunt, to get off a bus to get a selfie with a herd of stampeding bison, then it would be difficult to work up much sympathy for them (or their next of kin) when the inevitable happened.

See Related: Vacation Season Cautions: Large Animals Can Be Dangerous

Drunk Man Decides to Kick a Bison in Yellowstone, Learns About Consequences

And, as the linked article notes, these are dangerous critters.

In all seriousness, though, bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal. They are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans — not to mention bison can weigh up to 2,200 pounds, and they have sharp, 14-inch horns on their heads.

Yellowstone is home to black and grizzly bears, mountain lions, and wolves, but it's bison that injure more people. They are big, and like our moose here in Alaska, a healthy adult doesn't have many natural enemies and isn't really programmed to be afraid of anything. Moose here in the Great Land injure more people than bears, even our Volkswagen-sized coastal browns; just because an animal is a plant-eater doesn't make it a pacifist.

As large mammals go, humans are pretty soft and squishy. We don't have matted coats of hair; we don't have horns, fangs, or claws. We can't run as fast as most large mammals, although a human in good shape is a pretty great distance runner compared to a bison or moose — the trick is evading being ground into the landscape until the big animal runs out of steam. One way to do that, according to people experienced in the outdoors, is to always bring along someone who runs slower than you do. 

These days, too many people get their notions about wildlife from Disney. That's how people get hurt.

At least this time, the people were smart — or the event was over too quickly for them to be stupid. The important thing is that nobody got trampled or gored. That's good — because the big bull in that herd looked to be a buff fellow.

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