What Was Your Strangest Encounter

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Permalink Reply by Rob on February 4, 2009 at 1:00am

I'll be the first; I was working at the Oregon Zoo and I was selling hot dogs in a kiosk cart. One day I was near a enclosure where the bears are located. Apparently I had pulled the cart too close to one of the cages. The bear reaches out, pulled the top down and got a hold of the hot dogs. Luckily, I did not get in to too much trouble for it. I ended up not getting to work the whole day but I did learn from it not to get to close to any animal cages in the future.

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Permalink Reply by Dominic on February 4, 2009 at 10:29am

This I dont find to be very strange but I will till you it was pretty scary. When I was in yellowstone I was out hiking by myself one day. I went for a hike near the yellowstone river between Roosevelt and Mammoth. As I came over a hill and around the corner the was a large bison in the middle of the trail all by himself. I didnt wanna get close so I stayed back. After waiting a while it was apparent he was not going anywhere. I started to try and go around him while keeping my distance. He took notice of me and Im sure he felt threatened being all alone. I kept my distance buy I certainly spooked him because he started kicking up dirt and lowered his head at me. Believe it or not bison can run a pretty decent speed and I wasnt about to have a foot race with him. I looked around and there was not a tree, rock, or anything to take cover for hundreds of yards. He started to charge at me but only for a few feet. I think this was his way of saying he is not to be messed with. I slowly backed away and gave him his sweet time untill he wondered off. Bison one point, me zero. Dont mess with nature.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda on February 4, 2009 at 11:47am

Wow I can give you several stories but one in particular that's resent is the one that stands out. Me and 2 coworkers decided to go check out this cabin that apparently some lady had died in many many years ago, up there at the North Rim of the Grand canyon. We were told she never left. The season was not open just yet. So we get there and two of us go to reach for the handle at the same time and the door opens all the sudden as if someones hand is on the door knob. It didn't swing wide open and there is no tilt to the floor. it just casually opened like someone was on the other side opening it. My coworker jumped back really quick and I stood there in shock. Prior to reaching for the knob maintenance had just left locking the cabin up. Both doors on either side were locked tight. I walked in saying at the same time in a clear loud voice hey we are just here for a visit. We checked the back door and it was locked

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Permalink Reply by Rick Peterson on February 4, 2009 at 12:13pm

While working at the front desk a woman, mid-30's approached me. She asked for the supervisor, and I said that was me. She then told me that her 3 year old daughter hadn't pooped for 2 days, and she wanted me to come back to the room with her and give her an enema. After picking myself up off the floor, I calmly told the woman that there was no way I, or any of my staff, or any one from the lodge would be giving her daughter an enema. In a very frustrated tone she said, "Fine, I'll go to the gift shop and get the stuff and do it myself!" Believe me, as much as I wanted to let her leave I had to tell her that we don't sell enema kits in our gift shop. She then demanded that I call the flight for life to come pick up her daughter so that she could get to a hospital and poo. I had to tell her that I was sorry but I didn't really think a helicopter was going to fly out here to diagnose and treat constipation. We ended up sending her in a van to the local clinic, and luckily the daughter survived.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda on February 4, 2009 at 12:18pm

Lol I think I would a called the nuthouse also for that lady. As well as the child welfare office. Lady sounded off her rocker a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Dominic on February 4, 2009 at 12:35pm

wow Rick I dont know if I could help but laughing

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Permalink Reply by Judy on February 7, 2009 at 11:38am

Now, that is a good one, Rick!!!!And many thanks to you for NOT sending her our way. (Gift Shop) Whew, you certainly know how to deal with the Looney Tunes quite professionally. P.S. The Gift Shop would of probably just referred her to the Front Desk anyway!

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Permalink Reply by Kimberly Barnes on February 7, 2009 at 12:12pm

That is a horrible story. That poor child her mother sounds a little crazy??

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Permalink Reply by Kate on February 4, 2009 at 12:45pm

I was working in the gift shop at the Old Faithful Inn one evening at the end of the season in 2006.... the asst mgr on duty and I got along really well, and it was slow, so we were talking a little bit. He left to answer a phone call, and when he came back, he was busting up laughing. We retreated to a quiet place so he could tell me what had happened. The asst mgr on duty at the Snow Lodge gift shop had just had a woman come in and tell him she had seen Old Faithful erupt.......with FLAMES shooting out of the geyser! She proceeded to share a number of "prophesies" with him about the end of the world.
Ok, so it didn't actually happen TO me but it WAS the strangest thing I've ever encountered.....


We all had a good laugh out of it....

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Permalink Reply by Jason Kemple on February 4, 2009 at 1:04pm

Ok so this is kind of similiar.. except it was a job I had at a hotel here in NJ... but we can pretend it happened in Yellowstone to make it more exciting.

The hotel was short staffed so I volunteered to help clean rooms. As I was cleaning a vacant room, i turn around to see a man, in his 50's, standing on the other side of the room watching me. He caught me off guard, and i said "can i help you" and he asked if i could do him a favor. I skeptically said "I can try..." and he said that he goes around and video tapes people blowing up balloons until they pop. Now remember, it was just me and him in this room, it was such a quiet day, and it felt like no one else was in the entire hotel...

So i told him that i'm scared of balloons popping and sorry... but he kept trying to talk me into it. Being 18, young, and easily talked into things, i told him I would do it. He handed me a balloon, and he got out his video camera. It was at that time, that he got his video camera out, that i noticed in the same bag was a bunch of dirty magazines... and i dont mean they were muddy. And it was at that point that I realized that this was really weird and probably some sick fetish.

Luckily his video camera wouldn't work, or it was charged, or something, because he then told me that he'll have to see whats wrong with his camera and left. I never saw him again, thank god. Still kinda freaks me out to this day...

Just figured i'd share that story...

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Permalink Reply by akscootr on February 4, 2009 at 2:11pm

It was in the Tetons 2003. After doing a double shift I was tired and went to sleep early. I awoke around 2 am to see my roomie and a friend of his standing over my bed, staring down upon me, and commenting on my sleeping patters and other things about me. It was bizarre... needless to say I kicked them both out and had a different roomie the next day.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda on February 4, 2009 at 2:43pm

That reminds me of the year that girl I had as my roomie ended up being fired for her stunt. She had her boyfriend stay over in the cabin and one night about 1:30 2 am in the morning I woke up with the idiot in my bed. I went and got security to kick him out and then called in the location manager to inspect the room because I knew both were hi. I could smell it. Upon inspection the idiot girl had a pipe stuffed in a sock in the top drawer. Yep both by the afternoon they were fired.

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