Man tossed by Yellowstone bison says hitting the ground was the worst part

Bison, which appear to graze peacefully, can reach terrifying speeds, making them one of the most dangerous animals in Yellowstone; here one of the giant cattle recently attacked his grandfather and threw him.

Carl McDaniel, 65, suffered multiple broken bones in the July 10 attack on the national park but survived to tell the tale a few days later, as seen on video he recorded from his bed at Bozeman Health Deaconess Medical Center in southern Montana.

“He wasn’t showing aggression or anything like that until he picked a target. That target was me,” McDaniel said in the video posted to Instagram on Saturday.

McDaniel was on an after-dinner walk with his grandson when the attack occurred at Bridge Bay Campground near Yellowstone Lake.

“They’re moving faster than you can imagine. It just kept coming,” he said. The Bison were unable to connect with McDaniel’s grandson, who was not injured.

Bison can run at speeds of up to 35 mph (56 km/h), faster than the men’s world record in the 100-meter dash. They grow up to 2 meters tall, weigh up to 900 kilograms, and are the largest land animal in North America.

Yellowstone records an average of a few bison attacks each year. at least two there were people was attacked In the park in 2025.

Bozeman Health emergency room Dr. Eric Lowe said in the video that McDaniel suffered multiple fractures. The hardest part wasn’t the creature’s horns, McDaniel said.

“I didn’t get any bruises from him throwing me in the air,” he said. “It was the landing that became the problem.”