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COWS

Bruin47

By Bruin47
in United Kingdom and Ireland

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Bruin47

+Bruin47

Posted
Posted

We've all been there - The cache is 106ft away on the far side of that field. You climb the gate and head off in the direction of the arrow and there in front of you are 7 cows. They are standing still, simply minding their own business. What do you do? Do you walk slowly towards them hoping they part and let you through? Do you give them a very wide berth, skirting around the edge of the field adding a few hundred yards to your trek but keeping out of the Bovines way or do you turn around, go back over the fence and agree that you didn't really want to find that particular cache today anyway.

What do you do?

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scaw

+scaw

Posted
Posted

ok Mrs farmer here!!!!!!!!! at this time of year they are prone to charge especially if you have a 4 legged friend with you, they find them a threat to calves even if they arent in field with calves.

As for farmers with sticks not coming to any harm dont be to sure. People think oh there harmless but there not and yes we do give off phenamones (spelling)

 

Please be very aware of your exit route if you can run the length of a field in 30 seconds you bet a cow can do it in 20

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fat bloke

+fat bloke

Posted
Posted

ok Mrs farmer here!!!!!!!!! at this time of year they are prone to charge especially if you have a 4 legged friend with you, they find them a threat to calves even if they arent in field with calves.

As for farmers with sticks not coming to any harm dont be to sure. People think oh there harmless but there not and yes we do give off phenamones (spelling)

 

Please be very aware of your exit route if you can run the length of a field in 30 seconds you bet a cow can do it in 20

Yep! sound like the wife :D

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also_cute_and_fluffy

+also_cute_and_fluffy

Posted
Posted

Run Off!

 

Cows always go after Jess, poor thing. Her daddy was a cow herder apparently, but I guess it must have skipped a generation :o

 

Normally we end up jogging/running closely pursued by cows - Chris throwing Jess over a style and them just about catching up with me as I'm trying to get over.

 

Young bulls are the worst in my opinion, far too curious for there own good lol. :D

 

I have a cache dedicated to some naughty specimens:

 

Cache of the Beast

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Matt_Harpenden

+Matt_Harpenden

Posted
Posted

Funny this should come up, I had a bit of an encounter with a cow while caching recently. It charged toward me but I managed to escape. It was funny, because they were fine until I had retrieved the cache, as soon as I walked away with it to sign the log, it was as if I had taken something of theirs and it came running at me. Everything is sorted now and it is back where it belongs.

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Stuey

+Stuey

Posted
Posted

Me and just cows, be bold... walk towards them confidently.

Me and Ozzy and cows... keep Ozzy extra close on his lead, be very cautious.

Me and cows with calves... give them a wide berth if possible, or be very cautious.

Me and Ozzy and cows with calves.... probably give it a miss.

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8paws4legs

+8paws4legs

Posted
Posted

be confident. i usually keep rufus off the lead near cows as, being a country hound, he knows they are not to be trifled with and he tends to keep out of their way. they can be intimidating but i make sure i know where my escape route is and most of the time they are merely curious.

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Trucker Lee

+Trucker Lee

Posted
Posted

Cows, no problem, just give them some space and move slowly. Bulls, different story.

 

In my area, we have some fellows who raise or graze rodeo stock. These bulls, they fear nothing! Stay the h@#% away, far away.

If you see a pasture with only bulls, horn tips cut off, that's the one.

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SidAndBob

+SidAndBob

Posted
Posted

 

What do you do?

 

Personally I cack myself as they seem fascinated by me! :D

 

Bad Cow Day

I hate to disappoint you, but it's probably your dog they are interested in. :o They seem to have a real thing for dogs. Don't ask me why.

We've had 2 really dodgy caches with cows (+one with horses). This one must have looked hilarious, but when you're in the middle of a huge field and they start stampeding towards you it ain't funny. Especially when you have a child with you.

On this one they were buckin' like broncos and had decided they no longer wanted to respond to stick waving and shooing as my local farmer has told me to do.

The wife won't go near them. ;)

Will's friends dad is a farmer and was kicked in the head by one of his own cows last year. He was in hospital for a long, long time.

0f7be6e7-812b-4aa0-a5a0-4b5954662487.jpg

---Evil beasts---

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sTeamTraen

+sTeamTraen

Posted
Posted

I always carry a stout walking stick so walk straight through them. If the farmers don't come to any harm then I figure I should be alright. They are curious creatures and some times come running over to see what's going on but normally stop short of you. And I show no fear :D

 

I'm not afraid of cows, but then I don't have a dog with me and I avoid them if there are calves nearby. However, a cow weighs around half a ton. A stick is utterly useless. Even if it didn't break, your arm would. See for example: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...ire/4044275.stm - a stick will be of no use if 6 cows decide to trample you.

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Team Sieni

+Team Sieni

Posted
Posted (edited)

We'll go through a field if there are cows a long way away, but will always check the map to see if we can change our route to avoid the field. If there's a cache that we divert around then it just gets missed.

 

A couple of years back we were following a public footpath in Kent when we came to a sign "Beware of the Bull". We turned back and re-routed our walk out of caution.

 

I became convinced this was just a ruse by the landowner/farmer to prevent people following the footpath. I couldn't see any livestock at all in the adjacent fields. I suppose I could have informed someone like the Ramblers Association but I didn't.

 

Anyway, it makes me wonder: As bulls are genuinely dangerous animals are there any restrictions on where farmers can/should keep them? (eg in a secured field). Can we assume that the nasty looking animal standing across the path way over there is a cow because no farmer would keep a bull in a field with a footpath, or should we maintain our safety first approach?

 

Horses are another matter. I really don't like horses at all. Not one bit.

Edited by Team Sieni
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t.a.folk

+t.a.folk

Posted
Posted

I think ,but not sure ,there is an age restriction for bulls in a field with public access .

 

We recently walked through a field with docile cows in ,no prob ,

on the way back noticed one of them was a bull ! Still no prob .

 

But a different story in another field with young heifers in it.

They charged down the slope towards us ..but they stopped short when we outstretched our arms and said "MOOOOOO" as loud as we could and they did stop .

Then I kept me ol' man between me and the heifers ,I don't go for this equality melarky !

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Silver-Fox

+Silver-Fox

Posted
Posted
:D Know the feeling well...we had Geo dog with us and the cows came a running, Vixey hightailed it back over the style and Fox pushed dog under the fence, lost her geo coin in the process. We then spent another hour with dog and cows getting to know each other through the fence, got it all on camera. We ended up with Fox distracting them and Vixey pushing the dog back under fence and over the gate to take another route. we found the cache in the end.
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PopUpPirate

+PopUpPirate

Posted
Posted

From t'ramblers association website :

 

Can a farmer keep a bull in a field crossed by a public path?

 

A bull of up to ten months old, yes. Bulls over ten months of a recognised dairy breed (Ayrshire, British Friesian, British Holstein, Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey, Jersey and Kerry) are banned from fields crossed by public paths under all circumstances. All other bulls over ten months are banned unless accompanied by cows or heifers. If any bulls act in a way which endangers the public, an offence may be committed under health and safety legislation.

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BlueDeuce

+BlueDeuce

Posted
Posted

From t'ramblers association website :

 

Can a farmer keep a bull in a field crossed by a public path?

 

A bull of up to ten months old, yes. Bulls over ten months of a recognised dairy breed (Ayrshire, British Friesian, British Holstein, Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey, Jersey and Kerry) are banned from fields crossed by public paths under all circumstances. All other bulls over ten months are banned unless accompanied by cows or heifers. If any bulls act in a way which endangers the public, an offence may be committed under health and safety legislation.

 

Make sure to print off a copy and hand it to the bull when he takes offense at your trespassing. :D

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markandlynn

markandlynn

Posted
Posted

We just try to avoid eye contact as we think they interpret that as stalking them like a predator would. Since we started doing this we have never even had them come up to us to check us out.

 

If you are chased by cows drop something in the field they will stop to check it out before carrying on.

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Gushoneybun

+Gushoneybun

Posted
Posted

We were in two fields today our companions with no problems they are inquisitive and will run over to get to see you, walk towards then and they back off. All animals sense fear if you are scared they know it and will chase after you, stand your ground. Saying that I would never enter a field with Charolais as I have heard these have a nasty streak (and they are very big.)

 

Maybe having been around horses a lot when I was little has taught me never to run from any animal no matter how big, as they can all run faster than you, maybe thats why I have the broken bones to prove it! :lol:

 

If you are scared to go in don't as they know it! If you are positive then go in but think about what would happen and keep together, throw something down if you want to do a runner as it will delay them as they will investigate it first.

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The Flying Boots

+The Flying Boots

Posted
Posted

ok Mrs farmer here!!!!!!!!! at this time of year they are prone to charge especially if you have a 4 legged friend with you, they find them a threat to calves even if they arent in field with calves.

As for farmers with sticks not coming to any harm dont be to sure. People think oh there harmless but there not and yes we do give off phenamones (spelling)

 

Please be very aware of your exit route if you can run the length of a field in 30 seconds you bet a cow can do it in 20

 

If Mr F.B. is with me then I give him the dog and while all the cattle are busy going for him and Booboo I go for the cache or nearest exit from the field. Recently we made a very wet detour on the wrong footpath doing this but preferable to me getting trampled. (why doesn't Mr. F. B get trampled in these circumstances??)

 

If I'm on my own with the dog then I'll only go through if they're dairy cows without calves. Anything else and I'll climb barbed wire to make a detour.

 

Without the dog I have no fear of of cows, calves or bullocks but I'll not cross a field with a bull in it even if it is with its harem.

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Alibags

+Alibags

Posted
Posted

I always carry a stout walking stick so walk straight through them. If the farmers don't come to any harm then I figure I should be alright. They are curious creatures and some times come running over to see what's going on but normally stop short of you. And I show no fear :laughing:

 

Is this a good time to mention my Dad's late friend, a cattle farmer, who was tragically gored to death by one of his own cows earlier this year?

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Skate and Jane

+Skate and Jane

Posted
Posted

Is this a good time to mention my Dad's late friend, a cattle farmer, who was tragically gored to death by one of his own cows earlier this year?

 

Sorry to hear about your Dad's late friend. My point was that there are thousands of farmers coming into contact daily with cows and thankfully not many incidents. I would guess that by the laws of average it is fairly safe. When dogs are involved and calves are present that is a different matter.

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davy boy

+davy boy

Posted
Posted

:laughing: As Skate has said in his post,cows are mostly safe animals and are just inquisitive especially the younger ones. I think the only time to be careful is when with a dog and the cows have calves especially young calves!!

 

I usually stand my ground when they run at you and they will stop :laughing: . Horses are a different matter though! :laughing:

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Travers

+Travers

Posted
Posted

There is some very good advice here and some less good advice.

 

If you are at all worried, it must be better just to leave the cache - is it really worth putting yourself in danger (whether real or imagined)?

 

Cows are generally more curious than aggresive, but often if you run, they run, so walk slowly and steadily avoiding eye contact and keeping your body sideways on to them rather than head on. You can keep quiet, but even better would be to hum a tune (yes, I know it sounds weird!) which should have two effects - firstly, it gives you something to concentrate on rather than your fear and secondly it lets the animals know you are there and helps them assimilate you to 'background noise'.

 

This is a very basic 'submissive pose' and signals you are not a threat.

 

In this case, keep close to the fenceline rather than walk across an open field especially if you have a dog. Cattle and horses are flight animals so they can percieve you and your dog to be a threat - many times they would ignore you (a conditioned response) or show mild curiosity but if the cows are with calves they will understably be protective of them. If you carry a stick, don't wave it at them - ever!

 

With horses (and I've used it with cattle too but only herds of youngstock), occasionally you may use the 'agressive pose' but unless you know what you're doing it's best to avoid it.

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jindivik

+jindivik

Posted
Posted

Ayeee TIP IT

 

you can't tip a cow, for starters they don't sleep while standing up, taken from an article

 

"A cow of 1.45 metres in height pushed at an angle of 23.4 degrees relative to the ground would require 2,910 Newtons of force, equivalent to 4.43 people, she wrote. "

 

try to get 4 people within 5 ft of a cow before it runnig away and you would be very lucky...

 

anyway on a recent cache we had at least 15-20 bulls at the otherside of a hedgerow, they were all grunting & making that freaky noise they do before they start to charge....tried to say hello to a little guy at a gate but as soon as we got close it ran off!

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careygang

+careygang

Posted
Posted

We have 'Beasts' (Bullocks after the Op) in the field at the other side of our hedge, along with sheep. I find that when they get nosey about what I'm doing in the garden, a quick shot with a water pistol (or hose pipe) soon sends them away. So try carrying one of these super water weapons that are so popular with kids in the summer.

 

I'm sure some professional will now tell me that I'm not supposed to get cattle wet.

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