A Utah woman was attacked by a bison in the same park where her date had also been gored three months ago.
Kayleigh Davis, 22, was taking a sunset hike Friday on a trail at Antelope Island State Park when she came face-to-face with the soon-to-be rambunctious bovine.
She stepped off the path to steer clear of the animal when it suddenly charged, flipping her 15 feet in the air.
“I go around the bison, like off the trail away from him, and there’s actually four bikers coming down the trail and I think they had spooked him," Davis told NBC affiliate KSL from her hospital room on Monday. “That’s when he flipped me up in the air."
Even though the attack lasted for just a few seconds, it seemed like slow motion to Davis.
"I'm up in the air thinking, 'What's going to happen to me after this?' " said Davis, who suffered a broken ankle and badly cut calf from the attack.
After landing, the bison hovered over her, sniffed her and briefly dug in its hooves seemingly ready to charge again — before it stepped away, she said.
"It could have been worse, I've been telling family members that it could have been worse," Davis said. "It's lucky but it's also unfortunate at the same time."
Davis' date, Kyler Bourgeous, was also attacked by a bison on the island in June and Friday was his first visit back to that park since then. Bourgeous thought, what could the odds be for a second consecutive bison attack?
"I thought my incident was a freak accident with really bad luck with the positioning, and that we'd be fine going back out there," Bourgeous said.
These were the only two bison attacks reported at Antelope Island State Park this year, officials said.
But parks Lt. Eric Stucki said Davis and Bourgeous did not do "anything out of the ordinary" to antagonize the animal.
Antelope Island State Park, about 60 miles northwest of Salt Lake City, counts hundreds of bison as residents. The park is connected to the Great Salt Lake's southeastern shore by a 7-mile causeway.
Davis and Bourgeous said they don't plan to any future dates at Antelope Island State Park, though they still want to volunteer at the park's visitor center — a safe distance away from bison.
Bison attacks in the West are not incredibly uncommon.
A 9-year-old Florida girl was injured by a bison at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming back in July.
Then later that same month, a 17-year-old Colorado boy was gored at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.