The Yellowstone National Park visitor who was hurled into the air by an aggressive bull bison has been identified as a civic-minded grandfather who, despite the painful encounter now spreading widely online, was quick to joke about what happened.
Carl Isom-McDaniel sustained multiple fractures during the alarming incident Friday night at Bridge Bay Campground near Yellowstone Lake, in the park’s southeastern section, where he was visiting with his grandson.
Even while awaiting a park ambulance, Isom-McDaniel tried to keep the mood light, according to the professional photographer who recorded the dramatic moment that has since gone viral.
“He was in a lot of pain with his leg, and otherwise he was conscious the whole time, in good spirits, joking,” photographer Mike MacLeod told the New York Times.
MacLeod, who is based in Bozeman, Montana, said neither Isom-McDaniel nor his grandson appeared to provoke the bison, describing them instead as unlucky bystanders caught in the animal’s path.
Before charging Isom-McDaniel, the bison — possibly fueled by rising testosterone as mating season gets underway — had already threatened several groups of parkgoers, including teenage boys who fled when it rushed toward them, MacLeod told the Times.
After driving the teens away, the animal paused and lay down in the dirt near a picnic table beside a campground road, where remnants of a meal were still scattered.
When the bison stood back up, MacLeod told the outlet, “it was kicking like a rodeo horse who’s clearly very agitated.”
It was at that inopportune time that a pickup truck drove by and McDaniel and his grandson stopped to take pictures of the bison, having no idea he was in an irritated state.
“The bison stopped rolling in the dust and kind of sat up. He’s looking in the direction of those two,” MacLeod said.
“And as soon as they stop taking pictures, the bison stands up and the grandfather’s like, ‘Let’s get out of here. I don’t like this.’”
Another pickup truck drove by at that moment, which appeared to briefly capture the attention of the bison. However, once the vehicle was out of sight the massive creature turned his attention to McDaniel and his grandson, chasing them around a copse of pine trees.
The grandson was able to escape using some fancy footwork, but McDaniel was a sitting duck as the bison charged at him, hooking him with his left horn near his hip before flipping him some eight feet into the air.
MacLeod, who was watching in horror from a distance, said he could tell the bison was “really, really angry” by his body language — his head rearing up and down in an aggressive manner.
It was at that moment that he decided to intervene.
“I put my camera down and I ran at the bison pumping my arms up and down, yelling at the top of my lungs and jumping up trying to look big and distracting,” he said.
Other park visitors followed suit, which the photographer believes eventually convinced the bison to flee the scene. Fellow tourists stayed by McDaniel’s side while they waited for a park ambulance to transport him to a hospital for treatment, which arrived about 10 minutes later.
Park regulations require visitors to keep their distance from bison — giving them at least 75 feet of breathing room, particularly during mating season, which coincides with the height of Yellowstone’s tourist season.
MacLeod said every visitor he observed in the park Friday, including McDaniel and his grandson, were keeping a “respectful distance” from the animal, and had done nothing to provoke it to charge.
