Yellowstone Bison Tough Guy Update

Fun, quick, update on the bozo bison bully we wrote on a few weeks back. You’ll remember this internet sensation as Raymond Reinke, of Oregon.

His legal proceedings have now passed and he has been given a punishment that might come up a bit shy of what many would have liked to have seen, but is still a relatively stiff punishment.

Many folks would probably liked to have seen the bison get some revenge in the way of a mauling as the 55-year-old man taunted and flexed while stopping vehicle traffic in Yellowstone national Park on the final day of July.

According to an article from the Billings Gazette, Reinke will be jailed through November, under a sentence handed down last week by a U.S. magistrate in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming.

Not only did Reinke taunt a bison, breaking laws around approaching wildlife, but he had several ranger encounters while on an alcohol-fuel bender that he called “a ‘last hurrah’ trip through the parks before entering addiction treatment.” Park regulations require visitors to stay 25 yards away from bison.

First, on July 28 in Grand Teton National Park, Reinke was cited for public intoxication and interfering with law enforcement. He spent a night in jail and posted a $500 bond to be released.

Lesson learned? Not this guy.

Only three days later Reinke is in Yellowstone National Park making a bison jam so much worse by getting out of his vehicle, walking up to a particularly large bison on the road, flexing and acting as if he was some kind of bullfighter.

Of course we all know the rest of that story as he became internet infamous with that act.

Yellowstone rangers cited Reinke for intentionally disturbing wildlife and having an open container of alcohol. But he was released after! They were unaware at that time of the incident at Grand Teton.

On Aug. 3, Glacier National Park authorities spotted Reinke reportedly causing another disturbance. His Grand Teton bond had been revoked and he faced multiple charges in Yellowstone, so he was transported to Mammoth Hot Springs where there is a U.S. magistrate, courtroom and jail.

The Billings Gazette reports that Reinke is now banned from entering Yellowstone, Grand Teton or Glacier for five years. Why not all the Parks, right?

That is not all.

Other highlights of his punishment include a mild $70 in court fees, and five years probation during which time he is banned from bars and alcohol.

We don’t know Raymond Reinke. We don’t know what he struggles with, or what was going on in his mind during all this. But maybe this guy may want to take this opportunity to follow court orders and put the bottle down. In doing what he did during this several day bender he put himself, wildlife and other guests of the Parks at risk for nothing but selfish reasons.

Hopefully there aren’t any publishers out there willing to give this moron a book deal, because this behavior should not be rewarded, only used as a reminder to be responsible and ethical while visiting our National Parks.