When snapping pictures of wild animals in the great outdoors, there are some animals that photographers generally know to be careful around. These include creatures that are massive (e.g. moose, elephants), anything at the top of the food chain (e.g. lions, tigers, bears), and anything venomous (e.g. snakes). Well, you might also want to add the beaver to that mental list of yours.
It turns out beavers can be very dangerous, and even deadly. A man over in Belarus was killed recently after getting too close to a beaver he was trying to photograph. Read more…
A couple of weeks ago, we shared the sad story of how one hiker was killed after venturing within 50 yards of a grizzly bear to snap photographs. One of the biggest rules for photographing wildlife is to make sure you’re a safe distance from the wild animals. This distance varies depending on the animal you’re photographing. For grizzly bears, you’re supposed to stay at least a quarter of a mile away.
We’re not sure what the safe distance is for wild bison, but one thing we do know: it’s way farther than what we see in the video above. In it, a tourist family visiting Yellowstone National Park come across a bison standing next to the trail they’re on. Instead of finding a safe way around, the people somehow come to the conclusion that walking straight up to the horned animal with outstretched cameras is a good idea. They quickly learn what a bad idea it is. Luckily, no one gets hurt and everyone ends up having a chuckle, but it’s startling to see how much our culture of online photo sharing has eroded common sense in some people.
Update: Apparently the safe distance for photographing bison is 25 yards. Also, see if you can spot the guy in the background shooting away with his iPad.
