Bison Herd by auntietk
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
The first thing everyone wants to know about visiting Yellowstone is, "Did you see any buffalo?"
The answer to that is, "Well, yes and no!"
What most people think of as buffalo in the United States are actually bison, and yes, we saw a LOT of them, but buffalo live in Southern Asia and Africa.
Bison cause traffic jams in Yellowstone, and not just because people want to pull off to the side of the road to look at them. In places where there is grassland on both sides of the road, the bison cross the road whenever it pleases them, and traffic stops and waits while they cross. Tourists have been known to get out of their cars to take "selfies" with a bison, which is always a bad idea. I was told by someone who works up here that five people were gored by bison this year alone, and two of them died. Bison are wild animals, not quaint locals who probably won't mind you taking your picture with them! Male bison can be six feet at the shoulder, and can weigh around 2,000 pounds.
I got a lot of pictures of bison crossing the road, but between the glare on the windshield and the fact that the bison inevitably stood between me and the sun, I didn't get anything worth posting.
This is a single shot with a pano crop. There are between 75 and 100 bison in this photograph. The smoke, or steam, in the background is caused by the geysers and hot springs that are the hallmark of Yellowstone National Park.
Full view is a must ...

Comments (18)
Like it...rather iconic with the steaming vents as a backdrop. Love your composition.
Just read where there were 4,900 bison in the park (in 2014) where they have roamed free since prehistoric times. The Army of 100 years ago is credited with protecting the last two dozen or so of these magnificent animals from extinction and putting them back onto the road to recovery.
I'm assuming that you restrained from roller-skating among these critters....... :-P Sorry, couldn't resist... LOL It's been a crazy week, and my mind is just fried..
Great pano, Tara! It's been far too many years since I've been to Yellowstone!
Like this very much Tara and I remember being here but we were in a bus and were not allowed to get out but, as you described, there were a lot of people out of their cars
Fantastic on zoom! What an experience it must be to see all these huge creatures. It's amazing how foolish some folk are.
Fabulous panorama, Tara! Looks similar to what I saw in S.D., minus the steam jets of course. Super image!
A wonderful postcard view; and here I was hoping to see a shot of Bill riding one!
Cool info and an awesome shot!!
Gosh! This is a really awesome shot with the Bison and the geysers together. A really impressive sight.
I know all about tourists getting out their cars to take selfies with lions! Bison and buffalo are equally bad. I have learned that the most dangerous of the African Big Five (Buffalo; Rhino; Elephant; Leopard; Lion), the Buffalo in Africa is regarded as the most dangerous because of its complete unpredictability! Rangers can usually "read" the others but not the buffalo. We were in a buffalo traffic jam once where a herd of +- 500 crossed the road. Driving on after they have crossed was quite a challenge. Everyone's cars were slipping and sliding on the fresh poop!
Your image is absolutely magnificent Tara. Love every bit of it.
Extraordinary view, too cool
getting close to gators I saw people do so they can get a photo lol. very good shots here
majestic
It's good to see the bison roaming the plains.
Amazing panorama Tara. God bless.
Extraordinaire panoramique
sounds like the song writer really messed up when he said, 'oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam...
Beautiful panoramic view. Although I got several good shots of the bison at Yellowstone, I relied on my zoom lens to do it from a safe distance. But we did see tourists do the kind of dangerous things around them that you describe. In one case, a busload of foreign tourists approached a mother bison & her calf at a very close distance - definitely a no-no...
I remember exactly that kind of landscapes with buffalos