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Original poster

I just got chased by 25 cows. What do they do if they catch you?

75 replies

hatwoman · 28/04/2009 11:58

first let me establish my rural credentials. I lived in the country til I was 19. I recently moved back. I have never, ever, for one moment been perturbed by cows. I've even been known to mock townies who say stuff about cows looking at them funny.

well today, I was walking the dog and suddenly realised that the cows at the far side of the field were charging at me. all of them. I eyed up the wall to my left but the barbed wire on top meant there was no chance of escape. I suspected running would be a bad move. I thought about standing still and trying to stare them into submission but didn't fancy my chances. So I kept my cool and walked, briskly, to the stile. all the time watching 25 tonnes of solid animal thundering towards me. As soon as I put my foot on the stile they stopped. They were about 5 metres away. Shaking like a leaf and heart pounding I stood on top of the stile and told them off for scaring the crap out of me, counted them - for the purposes of story-telling - and went on my way.

What would have happened had I not made it to the stile???

OP posts:
ProfYaffle · 28/04/2009 12:40

Cows are scary. dh and I had a similar incident to yours a few years ago, walking through a field, cows come thundering up behind us, we leg it quickly over a stile - only to fine the footbridge over the stream out of the field was broken, we were trapped between the water and the cows. Obviously we scrambled down the bank and through the steam rather than face the beasties in the field

ABetaDad · 28/04/2009 12:40

FiveGoMadInDorset/KingCanute as an ex farmer, I totally agree with you. Do not ever go in a field with a strange dog when there are cows around. Cows can kill, especially if they have calves.

hatwoman - that must have been very frightening. I assume you were on a public footpath and the dog was on a lead? The truth is they were probably just curious - which is why they stopped.

As for what to do, having been in a stampede of over 200 escaped cattle in a forest (which was utterly terrifying) I would do the following:

Get out of the field if you can or throw the offending dog over the fence and then walk away to the nearest gate or style. If you can run to a big substantial tree, get behind it to stop the cattle running straight over you. They will stop, surround you and look at you but not hurt you once they get to the tree. After 5 minutes calmly walk away. Never put yourself between the cattle and a water source as thirsty cattle will go through a brick wall to get to water. If all else fails - shout, scream and wave your arms like a windmill. This will divert their charge. Do not attempt to run away - especially if you have a dog. They will chase you down.

ProfYaffle · 28/04/2009 12:44

Ooh crikey, just read AbetaDad's post, there was a fence running alongside the steam (which had the stile we vaulted) which was between us and the cows fortunately.

KingCanuteIAm · 28/04/2009 12:44

I would add to that Abetadad, also take a (quick) check around you to make sure there is not a calf stuck somewhere you had not noticed meaning you are between the cows and the calf - this would be (pun intended ) like a red rag to a bull - especially if you have a dog!

Comewhinewithme · 28/04/2009 12:46

I seriously can't believe you are worrying about cows right now ....is it not the pigs we should be worrying about .

Hope you are ok my Mum was once stranded on a car roof for an hour after some cows chased her and started butting the car once she sat on it .

MarlaSinger · 28/04/2009 12:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mistlethrush · 28/04/2009 12:50

Dairy bulls have a worse temper than beef bulls generally. Cows with calves are dangerous - try not to get between cow and calf. Bullocks can be very inquisitive, but normally stop if you shout at them and wave your arms. If you have a dog and can get the dog to be away from you safely and the cows are causing you a problem - let the dog go - cows are likely to be more aggressive towards that than people. (Have been in situation where my family was on a long walk and we found ourselves in a field with beef cows and their calves - one suddenly realised that her calf was on the otherside of where we were and set off a general movement in the same direction as we were going with 2 dogs - Very muddy - I helped my mother get out asap, then called dogs to me, distracting cows from my father!

Original poster
hatwoman · 28/04/2009 12:50

as far as I could see there were no calves at all. do you think it may have been a time of year thing - ie they could have recently had calves taken away? It's a field that doesn;t usually have cows in it. it is a public footpath but the dog wasn't on a lead - but wasn't near the cows either. in future I'll just avoid them altogether. bit of a pain, if you get to a field with cows in it and need to reroute, but it can be done.

We have some very beautiful but slightly scarey highland cattle near us - hard to avoid as they're not really in a field, just all over the moors.

any of you cow experts know how cows feel about runners?

OP posts:
Lizzylou · 28/04/2009 12:52

Berlimey, who knew our fields were full of killer cows?

Glad that you are OK, Hatwoman.

GentleOtter · 28/04/2009 12:55

We keep cattle and I am very wary of them indeed, especially once they have had their calves.
Cattle have an uncanny knack of being far away from you then when you turn round they are right behind. ....Big fat slavering silent cows.
They are very inquisitive and will follow you if you are walking (on the other side of the fence). There is no way on God's Earth I would go in to the same field as the bull.

cazboldy · 28/04/2009 12:57

You should have your dog on a lead - even on a footpath if near any livestock

Do you know if they were beef animals or dairy?

Also are they out all the time or do they come in at all through the day?

I think you did the right thing ( other than not having the dog on a lead)

They will trample you, but in reality would be much more likely to trample your dog!

GentleOtter · 28/04/2009 12:57

That said, they may have run at you thinking you had food. Some of them are still being fed supplement feeds until the grass begins to grow.

mistlethrush · 28/04/2009 12:58

And yet I remember giving my father's friend's bull a pat and a stroke when I was about 7 - it had come in with the cows for milking and was waiting for them to come out. He was a lovely Hereford if I remember correctly.

cazboldy · 28/04/2009 12:58

Christ GO - that goes without saying!

What sort of cattle do you have {nosey]

PigWithaCold · 28/04/2009 12:58

I think they tickle you.

PigWithaCold · 28/04/2009 12:58

www.darylscience.com/graphics/FarSideCownCar.gif

cazboldy · 28/04/2009 13:00

the nice bulls are the worst, as they lull you into a false sense of security, you begin to trust them, and end up taking silly risks!

(herefords are a particularly quiet breed though)

KingCanuteIAm · 28/04/2009 13:00

you are most likely to have a problem if you come to a field of cows with calves and they feel threatened or if you have a dog. Beyond this for the most part they have no interest in people, unless you happen upon some that get fed in the field by the farmer and it is feeding time - mind you most farmers would do this from a truck not in a pair of running shoes!

Highland cattle tend to be quite placid and less easy to spook but, obviously, they are an animal and animals can be unpredictable!

Portofino · 28/04/2009 13:00

I am I mean to be PMSL?

candystick · 28/04/2009 13:01

Shortly after we moved to where we live now (quite rural compared to previously living in a city) one of the first local newspaper headlines we saw was along the lines of " Man killed by Stampeding Cows" so yes they are scarey beasts

GentleOtter · 28/04/2009 13:01

cazboldy - Lim x Belgian Blue.

ClaireDeLoon · 28/04/2009 13:03

ooh someone I used to work with got chased by cows and they trampled him a bit - got badly knocked about and laughed at for a few weeks. He was walking his dog too. I've always liked cows personally.

cazboldy · 28/04/2009 13:05

GentleOtter

We have 3 jerseys and 4 holsteins and 1 ayrshire cross

and my husband milks about 150 others

Rhubarb · 28/04/2009 13:07

I've been in plenty of fields with cows, dh being a diary farmer in his youth. They've charged towards me too, usually young ones though and mainly because they're curious. They do stop once they get within feet of you and then they tend to just stand and stare at you.

I second the advice about dogs, now is calving time and dogs are potential threats to cows. In fact I reckon all of the cases involving death by cows in an English field, were caused by dogs.

KingCanuteIAm · 28/04/2009 13:08

We used to have competitions of who could stand in the mad bulls pen longest - he was nearly 7ft tall to the shoulder and built, well, like a f**k off great big bull. He had be very placid when young but got all knarly when he started to be put to the cows, he was shown at one point too and was a champion of something.

He was kept in a stable and pen that had a steel cage all round the inside, if you opened the outside door he would charge the inside cage...(When I say in I mean inside the first door and outside the cage)

So, you can see why we thought it was fun to get in with him
Weird what passes for entertainment when you are young - I got to about 8yo before I realised that we were all being stupid brats and tormenting the poor thing, and probably deserved to get battered by him for it.

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