Reporter's Close Encounter With Herd of Bison Inspires Perfect Meme for Social Distancing

Don't f*ck with bison. For that matter, don't f*ck with any living creature right now.

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Image via Getty/Jouko van der Kruijssen

bison

Do not—and I can’t stress this enough—fuck with bison.

In a merciful act of inadvertent COVID-19 fear-pausing, a reporter for an NBC affiliate in Montana has racked up hundreds of thousands of well-earned likes after sharing a clip of a would-be Yellowstone National Park broadcast interrupted by a herd of bison.

There was a herd of bison walking right toward me at @YellowstoneNPS today! pic.twitter.com/sdrBvojpwF

— Deion Broxton (@DeionBroxton) March 25, 2020

"Oh my god, oh my god," reporter Deion Broxton says in the clip as he notices the bison off-camera making their way into the frame. "Oh, no. I ain't messin' with you. Oh no . . . I'm not messin' with you."

Later, Broxton shared footage of the bison in question that he captured once posted up from a safer locale:

Here's the video of the bison I shot once I got a safe distance away lol pic.twitter.com/uL3XiR2ISR

— Deion Broxton (@DeionBroxton) March 26, 2020

Naturally, amid our current era of social distancing and general distrust of close contact with any living thing, Broxton's hilarious clip quickly started making the rounds in proper meme form. Even the official Yellowstone Twitter got in on the commentary:

A perfect example of what to do when approached by wildlife! 🤣 Thanks Deion for putting the #YellowstonePledge into action! https://t.co/A3h75AACeV https://t.co/YyZj7eK6gd

— Yellowstone National Park (@YellowstoneNPS) March 25, 2020

As someone who once had to crawl OVER THE SIDE OF A BRIDGE and hold onto the railing to get away from a herd of buffalo which showed up out of NOWHERE & decided to stampede...I feel this in my soul 🤣🤣 https://t.co/GrQejt4TPu

— Lexicon in Happy Valley (@alexiadpuravida) March 25, 2020

Bison? That's how I am just walking down the sidewalk these days #socialdistancing https://t.co/78TKo2hOdw

— Raphael Mazor (@rmazor) March 25, 2020

How I feel every single day about 2020. And it's only March. https://t.co/H7JrXRywH9

— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) March 26, 2020

When common sense hits you! 😄 https://t.co/nH5tFtQ7Si

— soulfoodscholar (@soulfoodscholar) March 25, 2020

When I see someone cough at the grocery store... https://t.co/Lu18b6JoYi

— Marrow to the bones (@danbanbam) March 25, 2020

Get Out (2020) https://t.co/dKOrdhnRG6

— Kwame the Gr8 (@KSekouM) March 25, 2020

soon as he said "I aint messin witchewww" i knew where my good brova was from 😂😂. puttin on for Baltimore out Yellow Stone. I'm inspired https://t.co/oSpitpuqrT

— Lawrence Burney (@TrueLaurels) March 25, 2020

He's a Baltimore guy, and he reacted as any Baltimore guy would when faced with a herd of bison https://t.co/lTleGuWlhd

— Bruce Cunningham (@Bruce45Sports) March 25, 2020

When someone comes within 6 feet of me https://t.co/pxBkGB36Uz

— Erin Donnelly (@erindonnelly) March 25, 2020

The omission of any bison from this video makes it a prime clip for any "found footage" horror film! https://t.co/r2kHNfWeY8

— Paul Wren (@ElevenPointTwo) March 25, 2020

In a subsequent interview with the Baltimore Sun, Broxton elaborated on what was going through his head during the near-bison encounter.

"They always say, 'Stay at least 25 yards away from mammals,'" he said in the Wednesday-published chat. "But that damn bison broke the 25-yard barrier and I was like, 'Uhhh, I'm not dealing with this!'"

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