Don't know where we're going, but we're on our way: moose jam 2010

sunday aug 8

you can be driving down a road in the park
enjoying all the beautiful scenery

come around a bend
and see this

it's what the locals call a moose jam, bear jam, bison jam.....
you get the idea
whatever poor animal is near the road is what the jam is named for.

people come to a screeching halt
hopefully on the side of the road,
but they actually stop in the middle of the road more than you would think.

they swing open their doors, usually as you are driving right by the car.
jump out, again usually as you are driving right by the car.
their kids jump out, yet again as you are driving right by the car.
and then they run across the road, right in front of you as you drive on the road.

i saw a woman running across the road in front of cars coming in both directions
with a small girl about 2 years old.
the little girl fell on the asphalt and started crying.
instead of picking her up,
the woman grabbed her arm, pulled her up off the ground and
kept running to see what everyone was looking at.

if it gets too out of hand
the park has to send what they call traffic control personnel.
it actually is human control personnel.
(you can see one in a yellow vest in the first picture)

you would not believe how stupid and ignorant people can be when it comes to these poor animals.
we have heard of people trying to pet the bison, put their kids on the bison's backs,
pose next to the moose, and try to get as close as possible (with their kids!!) to the bears for a picture.

friday night we came up to a place where everyone was stopped just to find
a mother moose on one side of the road
and her baby running back and forth on the other side of the road.
it was just about dark, the cars had their headlights on, and the people were really close to the baby.
the human control officer wasn't there yet, so we called it in.
they were already on their way.
i hope they got there in a hurry

this is what we came upon near colter bay on sunday.