This Could Happen To Cachers With Dogs

[+Brenin Tegeingl]

 There is a law about bulls not accompanied by cows, in fields crossed by rights of way, but I can't remember it exactly (Bulls with cows are safer than bulls without, apparently).

 

Here you go rules for bulls in fields with a through going through them:

 

A: Farmers shouldn’t only allow Dairy Bulls over 10 months old to roam in a field through which a RoW passes, and should ensure that Bulls of other breeds are accompanied by cows or heifers.

 

Dave

[+Cave Troll and Eeyore]

Latest info on animals that may attack ramblers/cachers etc.

[+The Forester]

Dairy breeds tend to be much more aggressive than beef breeds, but any cow can attack when calves are involved.

 

The classic indication that cows might attack is when you see that they have put the calves together in a "creche". That defensive formation is instinctive and is indicative of the cows collectively protecting eachothers young.

 

Any cow, however, can attack. A couple of months ago one of my neighbours, who keeps a dozen breeding cows in a couple of barns, was attacked by a heavily pregnant cow just after one of the others had given birth. He saved his own life only by climbing about 20 feet vertically up the corrugated steel wall. Fortunately he had his cellphone in his pocket and was able to phone me and another neighbour from his perch. That neighbour and I rescued him by driving a pair of tractors in direct contact into the barn to fend off the enraged cow. She is normally a very docile and placid beast, but when those hormone levels are up almost anything can happen. Unusually, she hadn't given the normal warning signals, such as the head bobbing gesture which cows make to tell you to back off.

 

In Britain, more people are attacked by cows than by bulls and such attacks are much more difficult to deal with than bull attacks because the normal tactics which can save you from a bull attack don't work with cows.

 

The advice given on this thread to let a dog off the leash if you are attacked by cattle is excellent. Doing so may quite possibly save your life and that of the dog.

 

On a lighter note, it reminds me of the old Kenyan joke about two Masai. One says to the other "what would you do if that lion over there charges us?" The other Masai says "I'd run away as fast as I can". The first Masai says "But you can't possible run faster than the lion!". He replies "I don't need to run faster than the lion. I only need to run faster than you".

[+The Hokesters]

She is normally a very docile and placid beast, but when those hormone levels are up almost anything can happen.

Most red blooded males should know this already

[+Pharisee]

I was clambering around the Fells in Weardale earlier this year and it more or less coincided with the local lambing season. Normally if you wander through a field that's home to a bunch of 'woollies' they'll move away as you approach... not so the Weardale mob... The lambs duck behind their mothers and said mothers turn to face you. If you get too close, they start stamping one front hoof on the ground. At that point, it's prudent to walk directly away from them and let them see that they've 'chased you off'. I did just that and the aggressive display never turned into a full bloodied attack.

[+The Forester]

When I was learning to fly I was given this snippet of vital information:

 

Cows and sheep are dumb - landing in a field with livestock is also dumb. Sheep scatter, cows dont - and they are big and heavy. Hitting a cow is painful for you and the aircraft. If you manage to land safely in a field with cows - remember that are not just dumb but also curious - and will probably trample the aircraft even if you do land safely.

 

Lesson: cows are bad news

Cows can be useful to a pilot making a forced or precautionary landing.

 

In these days when coalfires are becoming increasingly scarce in homes and factories so smoke plumes are like cops (you can never find one when you most need one), the second memory item on the checklist, "assess the wind", sometimes needs a bit of help. Knowledge of the wind direction is vital when selecting the field and planning the approach.

 

Cows have a natural preference for standing face into wind if there is a significant breeze. Strangely, horses are the opposite. They prefer to stand with their bum into wind.

 

I dunno why the two species have evolved such opposite preferences. Mother Nature usually has very good 'logic' when endowing creatures' behaviour patterns, so there must be some reason for it. Perhaps it's because cattle, being ruminants, fart a lot more than horses do and it makes sense to keep the air intake upwind of the exhaust pipe.

 

Sheep tend to take a much more random heading, but they can be useful indicators of the lie of the land in cold weather as they tend to hunker down in rows along gentle contours and so can be used to augment one's perception of the undulations in the land when the perspective is flattened by and from altitude.

[+minstrelcat]

It's not just the 4 legged creatures you have to watch for. When we were in the Shetlands we had Arctic Terns going for us and had a similar experience to this with Great Skuas.

 

Lisa

[+Wadders]

Sad story......cows eh!1 who'd have em?

just a bunch of animals!!!!!

[nobby.nobbs]

i still think leather's overpriced for the risk factor involved. i can understand\why alligator skin or a lions head might be costly but a leather jacket?

 

beware pigs, they can be really nasty and they'll eat you. i kid you not.

[+Pharisee]

beware pigs, they can be really nasty and they'll eat you. i kid you not.

Some years ago a friend had a big house in Norfolk and decided to use some of the land to raise four "weaners" (piglets to you and me). One afternoon, his young son came running into the house shouting "Daddy, daddy.... the pigs have dug up a body". We all rushed up the garden to the pigs enclosure and sure enough, all four were tucking into some grisly remains....

It seemed the previous owner had buried a dog under one of the trees and the pigs had dug it up. Unfortunately, he's seen fit to put the 'body' in a large plastic bag first so it had decomposed into a slimy mess that the pigs were thoroughly enjoying..... It almost put me off eating pork for life!!!