Cattle

[corydoras]

Sorry to be ignorant but what are 'followers'?

 

It's the staring that gets me!

 

I am much more relaxed when there aren't any! I've been 'chased' by bullocks and although it can be very frightening at first I've found that they always stop when they get within 5 to 10 metres of me. But it's never a nice feeling because you're never 100% sure. I will always go out of my way to avoid possible conflict/disturbance. Sometimes I just don't fish a certain field because the field offers no shelter whatsover. It's surrounded on all sides by rivers and a road so there's no escape once you're in! And this herd will stare and then start moving towards as soon as they spot you.

Sorry, techie farming speak for calves, lambs etc. So a field with a herd of cows in it is probably quite safe to walk through, but it may be different if the cattle have their followers with them.

[corydoras]

I think bullocks are more dangerous in some ways. You know that a bull can be dangerous and you leep out of their way, but some bullocks can attack as a herd. There used to be a pack of them at the very downstream end of Collingham's water and they would charge at you from hundreds of yards away. I always used to carry a few paper bags in my pocket, because blowing them up and bursting them usually gained you a bit of breathing space. I don't know where you would get paper bags from now though - you'd have to use balloons.

They probably just thought that you were going to feed them. When I was a nipper if I wanted the stirks at the park at the back of our house to come down to the fence so that I could pet them and scratch their ears (they like that, just like a dog does) I used to jump into the field and rattle a handful of calf nuts in a bucket. When the bullocks arrived I would hop back over to my own side of the fence.

 

 

Colin made a good point in his post. Like most animals the more contact that cattle have with humans when they are calves the more they are likely to have a good temperament. An Ayrshire cow that has not had a lot of time with people, save at the milking parlour will likely have a fiercer temperament than a Charolais bullock that was bottle fed, taught to drink out of a bucket etc.

[dant]

Sorry to be ignorant but what are 'followers'?

 

It's the staring that gets me!

 

I am much more relaxed when there aren't any! I've been 'chased' by bullocks and although it can be very frightening at first I've found that they always stop when they get within 5 to 10 metres of me. But it's never a nice feeling because you're never 100% sure. I will always go out of my way to avoid possible conflict/disturbance. Sometimes I just don't fish a certain field because the field offers no shelter whatsover. It's surrounded on all sides by rivers and a road so there's no escape once you're in! And this herd will stare and then start moving towards as soon as they spot you.

 

I think the term follower is a term used to describe any offspring a cow has, thats left in the field with the herd?

 

I think that Colin W is right in metioning that they probably think that you're going to feed them half the time. Most domesticated animals think with their stomachs....

 

I've had one or two close shaves with horses too. Especially in one paticular area with large male shire horses which has been enough to put me off fishing the spot again..

 

Mr Corydoras beat me to it...

Edited June 25, 2007 by dant

[corydoras]

I think the term follower is a term used to describe any offspring a cow has, thats left in the field with the herd?

 

I think that Colin W is right in metioning that they probably think that you're going to feed them half the time. Most domesticated animals think with their stomachs....

 

I've had one or two close shaves with horses too. Especially in one paticular area with large male shire horses which has been enough to put me off fishing the spot again..

 

Mr Corydoras beat me to it...

Sorry mate. Stallions can be every bit as bad as a bull, maybe even worse. A child of some friends of ours was attacked by a jack donkey. The donkey was the kids grandad's and he went out with his grandad to feed the donkeys. The jack was in this field with a couple of jennets. The grandfather did not notice that his grandson had slipped through the fence to pat the donkeys. The jack picked this little kid up by the shoulder and shook him like a rat. The kid had a huge bite taken out of his shoulder and he could easily have died had he had been on his own. Edited June 25, 2007 by corydoras

[dant]

Thats sounds horrific. I can almost picture it. The poor kid.

 

I used to know a lad that had his knee cap smashed by a lash of a stallions hoof. Not nice at all.

 

One of those Shirehorse stallions I mentioned, will run a mile or so across his marsh to come and menacingly size you up from the opposite bank..

 

I think I'm in complete agreeance with your second statement...

[corydoras]

Thats sounds horrific. I can almost picture it. The poor kid.

 

I used to know a lad that had his knee cap smashed by a lash of a stallions hoof. Not nice at all.

 

One of those Shirehorse stallions I mentioned, will run a mile or so across his marsh to come and menacingly size you up from the opposite bank..

 

I think I'm in complete agreeance with your second statement...

That was in France, but I am sure that an English jack could be just as bad .

 

My father was a farm worker when I was a kid. He had his knee smashed by a kick from a Jersey cow, a breed where the cows are known for having a good temperament, even if the bulls can be, shall we say a wee bit cantankerous.

[dant]

I think the morals of the stories so far are, to treat all large farm animals and a few of the smaller ones too, with respect and caution.

 

I guess if anyone is overly concerned, they could perhaps phone the farmer and find out a little about the animals temperament and/or when the animals will be in the area and plan their trips around the information..

[Vagabond]

Having spent much of my childhood on a farm, and a lifetime fishing, I would endorse what Corydoras has said in his posts.

 

I can remember four narrow squeaks with bulls - two by the river bank, and two in country lanes involving bulls that had escaped their fields.

 

I also remember seeing a stallion pick a farm worker up by his chest.

 

Having walked variously in lion/buffalo/rhino country, in a tiger reserve, in the Amazon jungle, and in grizzly bear territory, I felt much safer in each of those places than in a field with strange livestock. My policy is, if in doubt, stay out.

 

Ayrshires have been mentioned as dodgy - to that I would add Galloways and Jersey bulls.

 

Now, about this "don't run away" nonsense

 

.......a fellow trekker in India asked me what to do if we met a tiger. "I shall run" I said

 

"Don't be silly" he said, "you can't run faster than a tiger"

 

"No" I replied "but I don't have to - I merely have to run faster than you"

[Anderoo]

Now, about this "don't run away" nonsense

 

.......a fellow trekker in India asked me what to do if we met a tiger. "I shall run" I said

 

"Don't be silly" he said, "you can't run faster than a tiger"

 

"No" I replied "but I don't have to - I merely have to run faster than you"

 

Excellent

[dant]

Having walked variously in lion/buffalo/rhino country, in a tiger reserve, in the Amazon jungle, and in grizzly bear territory, I felt much safer in each of those places than in a field with strange livestock. My policy is, if in doubt, stay out.

 

Wow, thats some statement!

Having never been to any of those places, I have no reason to doubt you whatsoever. When in Africa were you fishing? And if so, did you have any bother with Hippos? As I've read that they can be volatile to say the least and have been touted as Africa's biggest killers...