Dealing with cows!

[Phone]

All,

 

Cows are easily conditioned too. Back when - I used to have to feed them grain in the form of range cubes and hay. They knew if I had bales in the back of the pick-up truck and when I didn't. If there was hay in the truck I had to hurry to get the drivers door open and get a bale or two on the ground. Otherwise I'd have to sit until they calmed down. Empty pick-up truck it appeared they didn't even notice I was about.

 

Phone

[Steve Walker]

When I was a student, for a while I lived on a sheep farm. Walking up through the fields from the bus stop one day, I noticed a sheep feed sack blown up against the fence. I thought I would pick it up and dispose of it properly - soon dropped it when the sheep spotted it and mobbed me!

[Andy Macfarlane]

It's the sheep you really have to worry about. It's the testosterone-fuelled, rip-snorting breath and the attitude. That and their massive fangs.

[Steve Walker]

It's the sheep you really have to worry about. It's the testosterone-fuelled, rip-snorting breath and the attitude. That and their massive fangs.

Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream.

[Ken L]

Cows and bullocks are generally inquisitive but harmless. They might stand on your gear though it it's left at the top of the bank so bear that in mind.

Cows with calves can be more problematic, especially if you take a dog with you.

Bulls obviously deserve a little care.

[Dave H]

These things LIVE on camels

They are very very commom on camels and although not poisonous give a huge nasty bite. My whole hand swelled up to twice the size once and it EFFIN hurt.

 

Now if one of these was found on a cow i may be backing off well i might run off...LOL

It took 5 wacks with a wok once and the damn thing still kept coming!!!

 

 

[Ken L]

These things LIVE on camels

They are very very commom on camels and although not poisonous give a huge nasty bite. My whole hand swelled up to twice the size once and it EFFIN hurt.

 

Now if one of these was found on a cow i may be backing off well i might run off...LOL

It took 5 wacks with a wok once and the damn thing still kept coming!!!

Sometimes they bite the camels. It was no problem until they started using depleted uranium shells but now...

[Dave H]

A bit like the colour of the that sheep i caught off the shores of Dungeness....

[Skridlov]

A couple of years ago I was walking down my club's stretch of our local river trying to decide where to fish. I decided to go over into the next field downstream. This is all farm land which has a mixture of beef bullocks and dairy. Arriving at the fence I confronted about six heifers and a very large bull. On seeing me the heifers all immediately went berserk and started p!ssing furiously. The bull, which was facing me (they were about 30 yds away) slowly turned sideways on to me but sort of looked to the side, straight at me. I took it for a very non-aggressive posture however there's no way I'd enter a field knowingly which contained a bull. Interestingly there was no sign stating the presence of the bull, although I think this is only mandatory where there's a public right-of-way. I wouldn't have liked to have encountered this group - as I easily could have - a hundred yards into the field with nowhere to hide and 40 lbs of gear on my elderly back.

 

A couple of days later I took the trouble to look up information about Temple Grandin, an American woman about whom I'd seen a fascinating documentary. She's revolutionised the cattle industry in the USA despite (or possibly because) of her severe autism. There are few people who know as much about cattle behaviour, a subject on which she has high academic qualifications as well as vast professional experience - she's treated like a deity at cattlemen's conventions. To my amazement I read that a bull broadsiding to you is actually a sign of aggression! It's telling you "look how big I am!" Also, it appears that the most dangerous bull is the "tame" bull that's grown up familiar with people. At some point such an animal will surely challenge a human - which usually has only one possible outcome. She also advises that any bull that shows aggression toward people in an open environment should be culled immediately. Bear in mind that this is someone who's prepared to get down at ground level in a stockyard full of cattle to see the world from their perspective.

 

I grew up around farms and took it for granted that dairy cattle were basically benign. Which they are, most of the time, recently calved cows being an obvious exception. But every year previously docile dairy cows kill people, usually stockmen, and frequently for completely inexplicable reasons. So I treat them cautiously. One beautiful herd of Freisians always wanders past me at some point in a spot I fish regularly. At least one just has to stand and stare for a while, getting left behind by the herd as they munch onward. Bullocks are more annoying. Sometimes a herd of 50 of them will follow me like the Pied Piper. I once asked the farm manager if it bothered him if I shoo-d them away. His reply: "you can try..." Their idiotic persistence has now stopped me from fishing one of the best stretches of the river.

[Anderoo]

Just because you're on a public right on way doesn't mean you're safe either: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-23586552