When I was in my teens, my dad bought a place on the Boulder River, about 30 miles north of Yellowstone, but you would have to drive around a mountain range, taking a good 3 hours to get there. We got the Billings Gazette and read about idiots in the park getting hurt or killed every year. When I hiked in the area, I was always and I mean always keeping my eyes open for wild animals. If I saw a moose, I'd stand still by a tree until it left. Never saw bears or mountain lions, but I often felt like they saw me... Once I saw a mink dive into the river after a fish and I thought to myself, "There is one of the few predators around here I don't have to worry about!" I still wouldn't have tried to go pet it.
|