If you have ever gone to Yellowstone National Park during one of its peak tourist times, you’ve probably seen someone behaving badly. There’s the people who try to pet the buffalo, or the guy having his wife pose off the boardwalk in a thermal area (which is clearly posted with signs that say, “Stay on the boardwalk”). Jen Mignard and her friends decided years ago to have a laugh and post some of the strangest actions they saw on Facebook. The page, “Yellowstone National Park: Invasion of the Idiots,” has steadily grown to 190,000 users. Mignard works hard to keep the posts nonpolitical and on the funny side. She also tries to concentrate on bad behavior in the West. Park officials even monitor the page to see what’s going on, like the guy acting like a gorilla chasing black bears. She’s also made-up funny posts, like a motorized cooler bear run, that some people took seriously and called the Park Service to complain. To learn more about the page and Mignard, check out my story at https://billingsgazette.com/outdoors/tourist-bad-behavior-yellowstone-facebook/article_b48f9316-0969-11ee-9ee9-87aa27e20de7.html.
Written by Brett French | Outdoors Editor for Billings Gazette Communications