Being chased by cows

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Back in the UK we tend to think that every living thing in Australia wants to either kill you or eat you.

You won’t find anything dangerous unless you go looking for it in the bush.

 

[nw1]

By not going near to them…??

Easier said than done if they are initially on the far side of the field, then run towards you.

 

[yoyothehobo]

I can't tell if you're trolling or not. Genuinely I can't. If not, how ridiculous. In many cases, not going near to them means to turn back and go back the way one came, which is not a fair expectation of someone on a public right of way just to avoid risk of severe harm by the animals.

If you came across a public footpath that had been washed away recently by a storm would you consider it a fair expectation to turn around and find another route or would you just march on through knowing it is your right? There is a degree of self preservation required in life and if there was something in a field I was worried about, i would find another way round. I normally just give a wide berth.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is an interesting post. I’ve never worried about cows. If I’ve walked through a field of cows, I just clapped my hands and they moved out of the way. I have always thought of cows as those benign creatures that are relatively docile and would move out the way when approached. I would never go near a bull, or indeed a cow with calf. But now I’m thinking that I must have got it all wrong after all these years. and frankly been an idiot.

Cows are probably like car drivers - generally not malicious but mildly incompetent, and as a result of the cow/car being heavy (OK, a car is heavier, but a cow is still half a tonne) can still hurt or kill you.

Bulls are a different game but you don't see them that often. Castrated bullocks (reared for meat) aren't as dangerous as there's less testosterone flowing.

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I’ve just noticed that your location is Australia. Back in the UK we tend to think that every living thing in Australia wants to either kill you or eat you. Ok that is being a bit flippant, but compared to he UK where we consider a cow as probably our most dangerous animal we are quite a safe place. Crossing a field with cows is like crossing a busy road. Cross in a safe place, be observant and use common sense.

Interesting that I just compared cows to cars before reading that! It sort of is like a busy road, yes - the cows don't mean harm any more than most car drivers do (the odd malicious car driver I guess is analogous to the bull) but they're still heavy so will hurt or kill you if they hit you at speed.

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You won’t find anything dangerous unless you go looking for it in the bush.

Other than spiders and snakes which show up in houses occasionally?

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I can’t believe folks are complaining about cows in fields. If the cow was chasing you around the streets or housing estate yes, but not in its own environment. Having a public right of way across a field means you are legally allowed to walk across that field. It does not mean the farmer has to take steps to ensure your safety. That is up to you.

To an extent they do - putting a bull alone* in a field with public access is illegal, though you can do it if there are cows there, the argument being it'll be more interested in the cows than you.

* Or theoretically more than one bull, but if you did that you might as well just send them to the slaughterhouse as they'd slaughter each other.

 

[nw1]

If you came across a public footpath that had been washed away recently by a storm would you consider it a fair expectation to turn around and find another route or would you just march on through knowing it is your right? There is a degree of self preservation required in life and if there was something in a field I was worried about, i would find another way round. I normally just give a wide berth.

Yes, but is it right?

I would do the same, but might not particularly want to negotiate a barbed-wire fence or heavy undergrowth, which is what normally results.

Of course going off-route risks the wrath of the landowner, too.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Other than spiders and snakes which show up in houses occasionally?

Not if you live in a city anyway. Sydney’s too tough for snakes so you won’t find them for miles unless you’re very unlucky, and even then they’ll ignore you if you leave them alone.

 

[nw1]

Not if you live in a city anyway. Sydney’s too tough for snakes so you won’t find them for miles unless you’re very unlucky, and even then they’ll ignore you if you leave them alone.

I can't speak for Australian snakes but can speak for our own adder.

They will, IMX, leave you alone, unless you step on them.

A while back I observed a group of them perhaps 2 metres ahead of me and wasn't alarmed in the slightest. I just watched them for a while.

If there were cows instead, I'd think rather differently.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not if you live in a city anyway. Sydney’s too tough for snakes so you won’t find them for miles unless you’re very unlucky, and even then they’ll ignore you if you leave them alone.

I suppose to be fair the UK does have one breed of venomous* snake, the adder, but you'd have to be going some to be bitten by one, they only do it as a very, very last resort if you corner them.

* There is that amusing story thus:
Boy to Scout Leader: Is this snake poisonous?
Scout Leader to Boy: No
<snake bites boy>
<boy is dying>
Scout Leader to Boy: I didn't say it wasn't venomous though.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I can't speak for Australian snakes but can speak for our own adder.

They will, IMX, leave you alone, unless you step on them.

A while back I observed a group of them perhaps 2 metres ahead of me and wasn't alarmed in the slightest. I just watched them for a while.

If there were cows instead, I'd think rather differently.

Yes, stomp loudly with your feet and the blind snake will think you’re very dangerous and slither away. A cow gets over 50% of its senses from sight, it will see you and may chase you away.

 

[nw1]

Yes, stomp loudly with your feet and the blind snake will think you’re very dangerous and slither away. A cow gets over 50% of its senses from sight, it will see you and may chase you away.

I didn't stomp, and I didn't want the adders to go away, to be fair. I enjoyed observing them.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I suppose to be fair the UK does have one breed of venomous* snake, the adder, but you'd have to be going some to be bitten by one, they only do it as a very, very last resort if you corner them.

* There is that amusing story thus:
Boy to Scout Leader: Is this snake poisonous?
Scout Leader to Boy: No
<snake bites boy>
<boy is dying>
Scout Leader to Boy: I didn't say it wasn't venomous though.

And they’re so endangered most will make it to middle age without even seeing one.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes, stomp loudly with your feet and the blind snake will think you’re very dangerous and slither away. A cow gets over 50% of its senses from sight, it will see you and may chase you away.

Cows will generally only chase you if they have calves or you corner them. They're usually just inquisitive.

Bulls are different, though, and will chase you for a laugh.

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And they’re so endangered most will make it to middle age without even seeing one.

I've never seen one and am middle aged, as if to prove your point. I have seen a grass snake and a slow worm (the latter isn't technically a snake but looks like one, it's actually a lizard without legs) though.

 

[nw1]

And they’re so endangered most will make it to middle age without even seeing one.

Yes, sad. The adder encounter I referenced above was actually in 2004 and that was the last time I saw one. I saw them in the 90s, by contrast, on 2 or 3 occasions.

I've not seen the UK's other snake species (grass snake and smooth snake) at all, though. I've seen the slow-worm and, very occasionally, the common lizard, though.

 

[yoyothehobo]

To be honest I am glad there are Cows there, it add something to the world.

It is a very first world problem to complain about animals obstructing a path.

 

[SJL2020]

To be honest I am glad there are Cows there, it add something to the world.

I'm in your world.

Various rewilding projects that are happening around the UK are generally removing sheep and putting more cattle back to assist with ecological restoration. Ramblers may encounter such cattle in places such as Ennerdale in the Lakes, where Belted Galloways are being used for this purpose as part of a Forestry Commission/National Trust/United Utilities joint project.

English Longhorns seem to be a popular breed in other areas for these replacements, being a hardy breed. Having large horns, I guess they may not be appreciated by those with a fear of cattle.

Personally, I'm all for it.

 

[Peter Sarf]

If you came across a public footpath that had been washed away recently by a storm would you consider it a fair expectation to turn around and find another route or would you just march on through knowing it is your right? There is a degree of self preservation required in life and if there was something in a field I was worried about, i would find another way round. I normally just give a wide berth.

Common sense. I have given cows a wide berth across a field and really their only reaction to me was curiosity. It seemes like the further away I was the more they concentrated on eating the grass.

Cows are probably like car drivers - generally not malicious but mildly incompetent, and as a result of the cow/car being heavy (OK, a car is heavier, but a cow is still half a tonne) can still hurt or kill you.

Bulls are a different game but you don't see them that often. Castrated bullocks (reared for meat) aren't as dangerous as there's less testosterone flowing.

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Interesting that I just compared cows to cars before reading that! It sort of is like a busy road, yes - the cows don't mean harm any more than most car drivers do (the odd malicious car driver I guess is analogous to the bull) but they're still heavy so will hurt or kill you if they hit you at speed.

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Other than spiders and snakes which show up in houses occasionally?

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To an extent they do - putting a bull alone* in a field with public access is illegal, though you can do it if there are cows there, the argument being it'll be more interested in the cows than you.

* Or theoretically more than one bull, but if you did that you might as well just send them to the slaughterhouse as they'd slaughter each other.

I like the analogy. We learn to be careful of things that can hurt us. That does not mean the car/cow will definitely hurt us but we don't cling blindly to our "rights". Furthermore a lunatic driver is probably more likely to be encountered on the road than a bull in a field.

To be honest I am glad there are Cows there, it add something to the world.

It is a very first world problem to complain about animals obstructing a path.

Yes. Let us not forget we are not the only animal on the planet and we do rather hog it don't we.

 

[nw1]

It is a very first world problem to complain about animals obstructing a path.

In other words, put up or shut up.

 

[yoyothehobo]

In other words, put up or shut up.

Well i had the same happen with Bears in Japan (at a distance of about 400m thankfully). I decided against telling them i had a right to be there...

 

[nw1]

Well i had the same happen with Bears in Japan (at a distance of about 400m thankfully). I decided against telling them i had a right to be there...

Bit different with wild animals. They are part of nature; cows are placed there by farmers.

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Common sense. I have given cows a wide berth across a field and really their only reaction to me was curiosity. It seemes like the further away I was the more they concentrated on eating the grass.

I like the analogy. We learn to be careful of things that can hurt us. That does not mean the car/cow will definitely hurt us but we don't cling blindly to our "rights". Furthermore a lunatic driver is probably more likely to be encountered on the road than a bull in a field.

Yes. Let us not forget we are not the only animal on the planet and we do rather hog it don't we.

Cows, though, are not wild animals; they are placed there by humans, and there are good and bad places to put those cows which can act in a threatening manner (i.e. good places = not on a public right of way). I wouldn't be complaining if a path was impassable due to dangerous wild animals of some description. And I certainly believe we need to conserve our native species (note my comments about adders, above - I would much prefer there to be more adders, not less, even if it meant we had to watch where we step a bit more in certain environments they are fond of).

 

[al78]

I was once on a group walk which involved us crossing a field with cows and calves. They were close to where the footpath went along the edge of the field to an exit on the far side. Initially they looked at us but didn't react. One of the group had a dog and once the cows spotted it they charged at us like a stampede. We all ran in different directions, myself and a couple of ladies headed downhill and bolting over a gate to a neighbouring (and empty) field with a heard of angry cows staring us down. No way back to the footpath, so with the aid of a mapping app on my phone, I guided us off-piste through some woodland and along a stream which brought us to a country lane where we were reunited with the rest of the group.

Livestock in fields is part of the working environment of the countryside and you have to accept some risk and use initiative, just like when I cycle on the road I have to accept there is a risk I will get seriously injured or killed by a careless driver, hence I don't argue with a ton of metal if the driver doesn't respect I have priority. Safety is more important than being in the right. I believe farmers have some duty of care not to put the more aggressive livestock in fields where public rights of way exist but the risk can never be reduced to zero.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Give the cows, and the countryside respect and they'll respect you (hopefully)

Had only 1 instance around 10 years ago crossing a field with a public footpath cut through the middle and a few cows curious to my presence. I was on my way to to take a lineside photo and was a tad anxious but kept my nerve and just continued, without stopping as if I was crossing the road. The cows took no interest on my way back

 

[Peter Sarf]

Bit different with wild animals. They are part of nature; cows are placed there by farmers.

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Cows, though, are not wild animals; they are placed there by humans, and there are good and bad places to put those cows which can act in a threatening manner (i.e. good places = not on a public right of way). I wouldn't be complaining if a path was impassable due to dangerous wild animals of some description. And I certainly believe we need to conserve our native species (note my comments about adders, above - I would much prefer there to be more adders, not less, even if it meant we had to watch where we step a bit more in certain environments they are fond of).

I don't really accept the distinction between wild animals and domesticated animals. I agree farmers have to be thoughtful about what they do to the safety of public rights of way but at the end of the day farms have to function. Food is not a luxury so we cannot eradicate farm animals or risk demonising those who provide our food. Its about a reasonable balance, there is no absolute solution. This is about public rights of way that thread their way across private land. Push the farmers hard enough and in go more fences and woe betide anyone who steps off the public right of way.

I was once on a group walk which involved us crossing a field with cows and calves. They were close to where the footpath went along the edge of the field to an exit on the far side. Initially they looked at us but didn't react. One of the group had a dog and once the cows spotted it they charged at us like a stampede. We all ran in different directions, myself and a couple of ladies headed downhill and bolting over a gate to a neighbouring (and empty) field with a heard of angry cows staring us down. No way back to the footpath, so with the aid of a mapping app on my phone, I guided us off-piste through some woodland and along a stream which brought us to a country lane where we were reunited with the rest of the group.

Livestock in fields is part of the working environment of the countryside and you have to accept some risk and use initiative, just like when I cycle on the road I have to accept there is a risk I will get seriously injured or killed by a careless driver, hence I don't argue with a ton of metal if the driver doesn't respect I have priority. Safety is more important than being in the right. I believe farmers have some duty of care not to put the more aggressive livestock in fields where public rights of way exist but the risk can never be reduced to zero.

True. It is only fair that we share the planet with others.

 

[Ken X]

We walk past these guys regularly and usually stop for a chat.

English Longhorns for those who are interested.

 

[yoyothehobo]

We walk past these guys regularly and usually stop for a chat.

English Longhorns for those who are interested.
View attachment 129957

Cute

 

[Ted633]

Only time I've had issues with cows is when we I had a dog with me. The (very good) advice is to let the dog go as they will outrun the cows (especially on open land). However our dog was blind so was oblivious to the cows that had trotted down the hill and were gathering very close behind us. My companion kept the dog very close to him on a very short lead, whilst I acted as a 'rear gunner' to keep them at bay. A job made easier as I had walking poles with me. We were on open land, but they gave up after a couple of minutes.

 

[al78]

In other words, put up or shut up.

First world problems

The concept of first-world problems is a piece of rhetoric mainly used for two purposes:

rationalwiki.org

 

[StoneRoad]

Some years ago now, I was picking blackberries alongside a field wall.
After a few minutes of concentrated harvesting, I heard a cow snort and looked up.
To see a row of cows, with their heads resting on the top stones in the wall, closely observing my activities ...
After about five / ten minutes, I moved along - about 20 yards or so - to another bush, and about two thirds of them followed me, for another watch. Most disconcerting, but also somewhat funny as they pushed past each other as they got into the fresh line, obviously they had some "pecking order" going on and that had to be maintained !

 

[GS250]

The problem with Cows is that they simply don't give any warning before they run at you. Literally no facial change, noises or anything. Bulls on the other hand will often stamp/scrape their front hooves or start lowing in your direction. You then have time to back away whilst still looking in their direction just in case. Most bulls will not charge if they see you retreating.

 

[SJL2020]

Meanwhile, over in Poland...

Magiczne Podlasie | Facebook

www.facebook.com

And there's a small herd now establishing in Kent.

 

[dangie]

Meanwhile, over in Poland...

Magiczne Podlasie | Facebook

www.facebook.com

And there's a small herd now establishing in Kent.

…. and it was not even on a designated zebra cow crossing….