These signs were hanging by the exit door of my dorm the other day...
Apparently, some people just weren't getting it...
On this particular day, I witnessed for the first time in my life the actual raw maternal instinct of an animal. An elk had given birth just the day before to a cute little calf. By Day 2 of it's life, Momma Elk is in cray cray mode, and charging any human that comes within 30 feet of her. Not many people enjoy being charged by an elk at 7 in the morning (or anytime of the day for that matter), and so the earnest Yellowstone Park Rangers barricade the area around our dorm to prevent further charges.
By early evening, Baby Elk is content and chilling in a corner with Momma, just below our window. (The screen of our window does not come out, so I had to take a picture through the screen.)
Everyone looks quiet and peaceful.
In about 20 minutes, however, Momma Elk begins charging the ranger who is standing guard to make sure none of the tourists walk beyond the barricaded area. She does not like him "nearby" and continuously backs him into a brick wall every time the ranger tries to move away. Cathleen and I continuously watch from our window and laugh. But only, of course, because the ranger is laughing about it, too. :)
Flash forward a few days, and I am on my last reservation call of the day with... a New Yorker. This particular lady has kindly kept me 15 minutes overtime at the end of the day with her very specific questions about all of the lodging options in the park. At one point, she almost books the suite (which runs $500 for the night) because it is the only room in the Park with a TV. Alas. Her questions continue...
NY Lady: "So like, is this Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel...is it like a motel...like you drive up to it and it's run down?"
Me: "No, actually it's a beautiful hotel with a lobby that has a fireplace, and a pianist that plays for 5 hours each night."
...
Somehow she still doesn't sound convinced.
At this point I happen to look over my right shoulder and gaze out the second floor window, looking forward to getting outside into the beautiful weather soon, when I see a woman running for her life down the road - and a momma elk chasing after her! Wow! Now this is different! The woman is clearly distraught, and as a last resort, runs herself into thicket of bushes, yanks off one of her shoes and throws it at the elk. The helpful shoe hits the elk in the neck, and causes the it to wobble in confusion to the opposite side of the street. In the meantime, a red Jeep Cherokee drives along the same road, in between the woman and the elk. The woman flags down the jeep, gets the driver to roll down his window to exchange quick words with him and proceeds to jump into the jeep, victoriously escaping the elk - minus one shoe.
A few minutes later, NY Lady continues...
"I'm looking online here right now, and I see that some of these rooms have a view. Like it says you can see elk from the windows..."
Me: "Yes, that's very true. In fact, I was a little distracted earlier because I just saw an elk chasing a woman down the street!"
I laugh, but NY Lady is silent... for once. ;)
Oh my goodness, where do I begin? How awesome is it to see a newborn elk? That's something you don't see in NYC! I can just picture the guard up against the wall laughing! The best of all was the NYC woman who said you could sometimes see Elk through your window! Did she end up booking a room or just decide to go to Niagra Falls or something? :)
ReplyDeletePretty cool....you could do a commercial just for advertising showing the woman thowing the shoe and running...talk about being close to wildlife.
ReplyDeleteThis is too funny!! I am glad that woman made it out ok. haha. That was quick thinking throwing a shoe. The poor mama just wanted to be left alone with her baby and now she has a wicked headache cause by a shoe. :)
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