‘A massive gaping puncture wound’

In 2022, a Los Angeles couple was vacationing in a luxury treehouse in Truchas, New Mexico. As part of their stay, the couple booked a tour of the farm where the treehouse is located, which included the chance to feed bison; This opportunity allegedly ended when the woman was injured in the arm.

Now, see Santa Fe New MexicoThe woman is suing the person who rented the treehouse, the farm owner, and the website where the treehouse was booked for unspecified damages regarding the alleged incident.

According to the lawsuit, Sarah Fiskin and her partner were feeding bison pellets from a box. But when the pellets began to run low, the lawsuit alleges, a bison named Junior became agitated and began pressuring Fiskin to get more.

As he did so, Junior “violently waved his antlers” and attacked Fiskin’s arm, leaving him with a “large puncture wound,” according to the lawsuit and the Santa Fe New Mexican. As a result, Fiskin claimed that he had to undergo surgery and that the incident left him with permanent, severe physical and psychological injuries.

While the website and the farm owner declined to comment on the matter, Sandra Webb, the woman renting the property, shared a different version of events. According to Webb, Fiskin dropped one of the pellets on the ground and Junior bent down to pick it up. When he looked up, one of Junior’s horns caught Fiskin’s arm.

Webb also shared that he and the insurance company had been trying to resolve the issue for the past few years, including an offer of approximately $300,000, but the other party declined.

This is just one in a long series of incidents that show that human-wildlife encounters often end badly. However, it is important to remember that most of the time it also ends badly for the animal in question. If Junior were a wild bison, there’s a good chance wildlife officials would find him and euthanize him for this incident, as that’s often the case.

Whether or not the animals appear tame, as Webb claims the bison do, it is advisable to stay away from any wild animals to avoid injury.

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