Doesn’t it seem like tensions are abnormally high these days? ? Don’t you feel like someone could say the wrong thing at any moment, and you’ll just fly right off the handle and end up headbutting them several feet off the ground?
In a piece of video uploaded to their Facebook Page, Yellowstone National Park shows that the sentiment is not exclusive to the human sphere.
The dramatic footage shows a handful of bison scattered across a roadway. The videographer is behind the wheel of a car, and there’s another car some meters down the road. In between, there are some very pissed off bison bros.
Of course it’s bison rutting season in the Park. Beginning in June and extending into September, the North American bison mating season is one of the most incredible and awe-inspiring times to visit.
According to the National Park Service website, rutting season makes for some peculiar bison behaviors: “this is when the mood changes and the deep bellows of bull bison can be heard across the landscape. Bulls begin to court females through a variety of behaviors such as sniffing female genital areas and face-to-face lip curls.” It’s also when competition for female mates result in some epic bison fights.
Back to our video, one of the big boys on the left has had enough of one of his competitors, rushing at him. Using his gargantuan weight and the speed of his whole mass barrelling towards the other, he manages to lift the other bison off the ground and throw him what looks like at least 8 feet.
The recipient of the powerful throw lands as gracefully as a cat and keeps on running, apparently fine. But he might just have a second thought before approaching the other bull’s girlfriend next time.