Back to my trip in Yellowstone.It's spring. Everything is wet. The rivers are running high. Babies are everywhere. From buffalo to bears and Eagles to Osprey everything is anew. My last day only a few miles from the west entrance was a traffic jam. It was bad enough that I thought it had to be a bear sighting. It was late. The sun was resting just behind the horizon. Stopping I could not see any wildlife worth a huge traffic jam like what I had just witnessed. Only a few buffalo with calves. Something was drawing attention to all these people. Maybe a grizzly ready to take the buffalo. Maybe a wolf. My trek back to the crowd from my parking spot made me wonder if my efforts were worth it in pictures. Of course I had my photo vest on, back pack over my shoulder and the big gun on the tripod over the other shoulder.
What was everyone watching? It wasn't obvious. What we all were watching was moving to say the least. No imminent threat. No blood. Just emotion. From a buffalo calf.
This handsome little guy was full of energy, enthusiasm or was he. He would try to nurse from cows and always to be rejected. He was nervous. Like before you have to give that big talk in church or in front of a large group of people. The tourists that had gathered were all commenting on his unusual behavior. Something was wrong. He would direct a lot of his energy at a lone cow some distance from the other cows. Often other calves would join him near this lone cow. Then it was obvious the cow had a broken front leg and could not stand. Several attempts were made. She could not stand. At one moment she appeared to raise her hind quarters to try and feed her calf. But she couldn't.
This handsome little guy was full of energy, enthusiasm or was he. He would try to nurse from cows and always to be rejected. He was nervous. Like before you have to give that big talk in church or in front of a large group of people. The tourists that had gathered were all commenting on his unusual behavior. Something was wrong. He would direct a lot of his energy at a lone cow some distance from the other cows. Often other calves would join him near this lone cow. Then it was obvious the cow had a broken front leg and could not stand. Several attempts were made. She could not stand. At one moment she appeared to raise her hind quarters to try and feed her calf. But she couldn't. 
The calf would lay her head on the cow. His mother. His food supply. His protection.
Tears were shed by people around me.
I stayed until after dark. So did many others. Questions were everywhere.
"What's going to happen to the calf"?
"Can the park service help"?
"Will the cow or the calf be killed tonight"?
Even some adult men were moved by the scene. It's nature. Right? The circle of life? Or just more feed for the wolves, bears and other predators.
There was a real sense of feeling coming from the calf. Not pain. Feeling. The little guy sensed something dramatic was to occur. He was nervous.
1 comment:
The raw realities of nature. We extrapolate our emotions toward nature, wanting to prevail over the natural process put in place to strengthen the species. Sad but necessary.
OF
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