Mother Bison Blocks The Cold, Rushing Water To Help Her Calf Cross River In Yellowstone National Park

Mother bison power.

It doesn’t take a wildlife expert to tell you that bison calves are often at the highest risk of death when you break down a herd of bison. Whether it be the cruel winters, the relentless pursuit of predators, or just normal travel, a young bison faces many tests before it makes it to adulthood… if it does at all.

There’s always a fine line between life and death out in the wild, and the dangerous act of crossing a fast-moving river can put a younger bison in peril. A bison calf might feel as though they aren’t ready to make their way across a water way, though not crossing could put them at even more of a risk.

That’s because if the rest of the herd moves across, the bison calf better do so as well. Otherwise, it’ll be left behind and forced to fend for itself long before it’s strong enough to do so. A calf normally depends on help from its mother for the first year or so of its life.

As many of you parents out there probably know, there are a lot of learning curves for young ones. Though it might be harsh, sometimes the best way to learn something is to be thrown right into it. And with this mother bison, she made sure that nothing bad happened to her little one by staying right beside it and blocking the cold, rushing water of the Lamar River as they made the trek across.

The photographer for Yellowstone Insight that captured the stunning pictures of the mother helping her calf across the river explained the tense situation like this:

“We arrived at the confluence of the Lamar River & Soda Butte Creek just in time to see the strong mother bison work hard to protect her newborn calf from the strong currents during the spring season melt off. The mother bison used her body to block the cold, rushing waters from her tiny calf.

This must have been a classic example of can’t go around it, can’t go under it, can’t go over it. This mother bison saw the fast-moving current and knew that there was only way to attack it: Go right through it. So that’s exactly what she did, and the large animal (along with her baby) entered into the cold water and set her eyes on the shore of the other side.

Bison are excellent swimmers, so there’s not typically a concern with them crossing a body of water. Their coats – at least the outer-most portion of it – are water resistant, which aids the bison in staying warm. That being said, even the smallest water crossing for an adult bison can be extremely challenging for a young bison to take on.

Thankfully, this mother bison didn’t leave her little one hanging and basically willed the calf to the other side of the river.

All in all, it’s another example of the natural beauty of the beasts that call Yellowstone National Park home. It’s estimated that around 4,500 roam around Yellowstone, and sometimes they are forced to face off against some of the natural land’s obstacles – but it’s nothing that the strongest being in the universe (a mother) can’t handle.

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