The National Park Service is hosting a pumpkin carving challenge where participants are encouraged to use templates they provide to carve NPS themed pumpkins. The templates include art featuring wolves, bats, spiders, fat bears and one that gives a nod to bad behavior in the parks.
The template is called “The Close Encounter” and it shows a tourists getting launched airborne by an aggressive bison. The image is undoubtedly inspired by the battery of videos throughout the years of visitors to Yellowstone National Park getting attacked by bison like the one below.
In the description of the template, NPS includes a wildlife safety advisory to encourage “unscary” wildlife encounters in our National Parks. Learn about wildlife safety in our National Parks HERE.
Orange you excited for autumn? Get ahead of the carve by creating a gourd-geous park pumpkin this fall season and give ‘em pumpkin to talk about. Share your pumpkin park art on social media using #FindYourPark or #EncuentraTuParque to add it to the growing parks pumpkin patch.
The Close Encounter
Few things are more terrifying than people getting too close to wildlife. National parks are packed with creatures of all shapes and tooth sizes. Follow these tips to watch wildlife safely, including from an unscary distance.