The commonly cited stats on cow attacks put the risk of being killed at nearly 3 billion to one. Not a very large risk, and so easily dismissed as insignificant.
But these statistics are fundamentally flawed. Find out why the risk is likely to be much larger, at around 35 thousand to one.
Read our opinion piece: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW ON CATTLE ATTACK STATISTICS
I threw myself into the gorse bush. Utterly terrifying. Thought I was going to die.
I ALWAYS steer clear of cows. I look for them and if I see any around I go elsewhere.
I was on Exmoor, near Tavistock, taking my well-behaved little Labrador for a walk. When I parked up, I saw a herd with very young calves all heading peaceably up the road in the opposite direction. I watched as they disappeared from view.
Thinking it was safe, I got out of my car and began walking with my dog. We were heading in a westerly direction alongside the Down Road, which bisects this part of the moor. Within moments I heard a cow bellow in the distance. Immediately, I stopped and checked to see if there were any cows in sight, but I could see nothing for 360 degrees in all directions. Reassured, I continued walking.
I’d only got about 20 yards from my car when I looked behind me, and saw a brown cow trotting towards me and my dog. She had come from further up the road, and must have been hidden around a bend out of sight. She was 20 yards from reaching my car and coming up fast.
There were nobody in sight. No humans. No other cows. I couldn’t see any calves.
I instinctively knew this was trouble. I wouldn’t be able to get back to my car in time, and had nowhere else to run or hide. Then I spotted some ferns and a gorse thicket on the other side of the road, about 5 yards into the moor. I knew it was my only defence, so I turned and tried to walk as calmly as I could towards the gorse bush.
If the cow changed direction, I knew this would confirm she was after me.
The animal began to cross the road, heading straight for me. She was about 30 yards away, when she broke into a run, charging towards me and my dog.
I ran into the thicket and got behind the gorse bush which was spindly and prickly. I thought if necessary I could get into the middle of the bush, right in between the thorny branches. At this time, I still had tight hold of my dog by his harness, was trying to pull him towards me, and to crouch down to hide. I could see the cow peering into the ferns and bracken, trying to locate me. I remembered that you should let your dog go, so I began to release him.
Suddenly, the cow charged. My dog slipped his harness and legged it. The beast chased me around the gorse bush. It was literally right behind me, and kept on following me. Round and round we went. Several times. I was terrified.
It was difficult to keep going. The bush was only about 1 meter in diameter and surrounded by thick ferns that were impeding my movement. Several times the cow stopped, but I could see it staring at me through the opposite side of the bush.
I’m 54 years old and was beginning to run out of energy. I was scared witless, knowing the cow wasn’t gonna give up chasing me round the bush = like a scene out of the goddamn Magic Roundabout – until it got me. When it was practically on top of me, I knew I had no choice but to jump into the middle of the gorse.
Inside the bush, I felt I couldn’t breathe. I was so scared. My energy was sapped. I was shaking. My legs like jelly.
Still the cow wouldn’t give up. It kept eyeballing me and attempting to ram me inside the bush. So I began shouting. I yelled at it, over and over. The noise startled the cow for a moment, but it didn’t stop attacking the bush. I was trying to grab the thorny branches around me to protect myself.
I was desperately looking for help and I called out to my dog. I think the cow must have seen him, because it moved off. Then my dog appeared and sat down a few meters away from the gorse bush. I looked towards the road and saw the cow had crossed over the road and was standing on the opposite side.
To my relief, I saw a people-carrier van drive slowly past. The driver was woman. She had her window down and was looking in my direction. I screamed for help and she stopped her vehicle. I shouted out and said that the cow was attacking me. At that point, the cow looked like it was coming for me again. The driver saw it and she reversed back to scare the animal away.
At this point, a big green transit van pulled to a stop in the middle of the road, unfortunately blocking my view of the cow. The woman driver was shouting for me to run to her car and I saw her open the back door. But I wasn’t sure I could make it because, when I last saw the cow, it was the same distance from her car as I was.
With the cow hidden from view, I knew I had no other choice but to chance it. I must try to run as fast as I could muster to the car.
So I jumped out of the bush and set off. But my legs buckled underneath me. I fell over flat onto my face. I could hear the woman in the car screaming at me to get up and move because the cow was charging at me again. I got up and made it to the car, somehow, with my dog in tow and the cow bearing down on us.
When I reached the car, I realised my dog couldn’t jump in. Too high. It was a big MPV. I had to lift him up and throw him in. Then throw myself in after.
I closed the door and collapsed on the back seat behind the female driver. I was absolutely drained and terrified. Could barely speak or breathe, as the woman began asking what happened and if I was ok. She let me rest for a few minutes then asked where my car was. It was only 40 yards away.
As we pulled up alongside my car, I saw the cow walking past with a calf in tow.
With the cow out of the way, I needed to go back to find my dog’s harness and the woman drove me back to the scene of the attack. The harness was not in the thicket, where my dog had slipped out of it, but outside near the road. I have no idea how it got there. The lady picked it up for me and then drove me back to my car again.
I didn’t dare get out of her vehicle until the cow was out of sight. I asked the lady to wait until I was safely back in my car, which she did. I could not thank her enough for helping me. She was quite knowledgeable about cow behaviour and told me that cows hide their calves when they go off feeding. The calf was probably hidden nearby.
Later, much later, I phoned my vet who is my friend and also runs a farm with horses, cows and sheep. I broke down sobbing as I was recalling the attack and she said I did the right thing to escape the cow by running into the thicket. She explained that cows have poor eyesight. If it had been able to see me properly, it would have just charged and rammed the entire bush, with me in it. She said it was probably my dog that got the cow’s attention initially, as it was protecting the calf it had hidden.
My vet friend told me that, to the cow, my dog is a predator. Just like a wolf. Because I was with the dog I became a threat by association. She said that cattle become fixated and won’t stop until the threat is eliminated. She also said she has some black cows that she won’t go near when they are calving because they become pure evil. And she’s a vet!
According to my friend, the moor is common land. FIRST priority is for animal grazing, and SECOND for people on it – for whatever reason. She said there was no point reporting the incident because no one would take any notice, or care, because of this hierarchical rule.
Needless to say I am somewhat upset and traumatised. Especially when a lot of my friends and family (without asking the details or acknowledging my abject fear) think my ordeal (being attacked by a mad/angry cow) is clearly hilarious. What’s hilarious about total unadulterated fear?
This incident came from nowhere. I can honestly say the fear I felt was akin to treading water in a shark infested ocean on my own with no boat and no life jacket. Nothing and no one around to help and no escape. Utterly terrifying. I thought I was going to die.
Webmaster’s note: Sharon, thank you very much for sharing your story. We don’t seem to have your email address. You offered some help with social media campaigns. If you are still interested, perhaps you could please contact us?
Charged by cows while walking the Wales Coast Path. Why can’t footpaths be fenced off?
My husband and I are walking sections of the Wales Coast Path together. On Saturday the 29th of July 2017, we set out from Carmarthen and were heading for Ferryside. We entered a field – following signs for the “Wales Coast Path”. There were no cows in sight.
As we walked across the field, we noticed a group of cows were at the top of the field near the gate. I’m not sure of the breed but they seemed a mixture. Some were brown, some black and white.
We had to keep walking towards the gate, as it was the only way out of the field and we had no other option. Because we didn’t want to alarm or scare the cows, we kept as close to the fence as was possible. Sliding in mud and cow dung.
One cow started to walk towards us and then four other cows started to run directly towards us. They were charging straight at us. Both myself and my husband were terrified. At the last minute my husband shouted and raised his arms. Luckily this seemed to slow them down.
We could see the farmhouse which was about 300 yards in front of us. I shouted several times for help but no one came to assist us. We managed to get to the gate and we both felt terrified and very lucky to escape without being hurt.
My husband and I love walking along the coastal path and have so far have walked from Chepstow to Pendine. We want to walk the whole of the Wales Coast Path in due course but I don’t think I can face walking through fields much longer, as I am getting increasingly anxious.
We respect animals and appreciate the farmers immensely for the work they do. All we want is to be safe and enjoy the walk. We didn’t have a dog with us.
Recently we were out walking and passed through roughly about 15 fields. We noticed the majority of them had a fenced off walk way through or around the edge of the field. Could this be adapted where possible to ensure safety of cows and walkers?
It’s very sad when aggressive cattle prevent the public from using public footpaths.
In March 2017, I was walking with my husband, and we were following the Western Loop of the Witches’ Trail near Pendle. We had our small dog on a short lead.
Near Drivers Height Farm the footpath climbs steeply up a hill and runs next to a stone wall. We noticed a group of six cattle standing in the middle of the field. We stayed quiet and made sure to keep well away from them. Our dog did not bark or do anything to disturb them in any way.
As soon as we entered the field, the cattle immediately made their way swiftly toward us. The most prominent one – the leader – seemed to be all tan in colour and I think it might have been a bull, but I cannot say for sure. The other cows were different colours. Some were all black and others were pale. They had no calves with them.
We tried moving further away, until we were walking on very boggy ground right next to the stone wall. But they just kept coming.
I was scared and turned back. They pursued me to the gate, but my husband and the dog were still trapped inside the field. Standing at the gate I shouted and waved my hiking pole, until they moved off.
We waited until they had moved over to the other side of the field, and then we made another attempt to cross the field.
Once they saw us, they started making their way toward us again. It was very intimidating, but we remained calm and quiet and tried to give them a very wide berth. They pursued us no matter what we did.
In the end we gave up and left the field. We were forced to look for a longer yet safer route around. I was very shook up and I don’t even want to think about what would have happened had we been further from the gate and unable to get back, because the cattle kept coming and it’s such a steep ascent. The consequences could have been tragic.
It’s very sad when aggressive cattle prevent the public from using public footpaths. These animals are an accident waiting to happen. We saw no warning signs. I think there should have been very clear warnings. I also think cattle with aggressive tendencies should be kept out of fields with public rights of way.
Interestingly enough we had walked through a field just 30 minutes prior filled with black and white dairy cows, who did not bat an eyelid at our presence.
Approximate site of the incident:
Photo courtesy of MabelAmber on Pixabay
30-40 bullocks charged towards him at full gallop on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path
Last April, 2016, I had a frightening encounter with a group of bullocks in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
I was walking along the coastal path between Angle and Pembroke. It was a public footpath and well signposted. A herd of 30 or 40 bullocks slowly started to walk towards me. Then one broke into a trot and before long they were all charging towards me at a gallop.
There was nowhere I could escape to. The field was very large and long, with a hawthorn hedge and a steep drop into the sea on one side, and a high security fence on the other.
My only option was to run towards the cattle shouting and waving my arms.
Thankfully they stopped and I was able to walk away to safety. I dread to consider what would have happened if I had not decided on this option.
I didn’t see any warning signs when I entered the field, and I didn’t have a dog with me.
Luckily I wasn’t hurt, and I didn’t report the incident to anybody. I do appreciate that farmland is there to be used by livestock, but it was very frightening, and since then I have become very cautious of cattle. They are very unpredictable.
Maddi escaped by hiding under a tree. A terrifying experience.
In April this year, three of us were walking on a public footpath through Tring Park, in Herefordshire. There was a sign on a gate that warned us to be careful of cows, especially with dogs. We didn’t have a dog with us, so we weren’t particularly worried.
Suddenly, a herd of cows came over a hill and began running straight towards us. They had calves with them.
We ran away, but they chased us. To try to escape, we turned off the path and hid under a tree. The cows stopped on the path and began walking slowly towards us. They started to surround the tree. We were terrified.
Slowly, we started to walk away (instead of running). Thankfully they didn’t follow us.
When we got near the gate out of the field, and thinking we were safe, we stopped to talk. Suddenly, the cows suddenly started running at us again. We raced to the gate and managed to get away.
We didn’t have a dog with us, so there was no reason for the attack. I have no doubt that if we hadn’t got out of their way by hiding under the tree, they would have trampled us.
Luckily nobody was hurt, but we were badly frightened. Afterwards we reported it to the Woodland Trust (who own the park), but as far as we know there has been no further investigation.
More people should be aware of how dangerous cows can be. Possibly we need to fence off paths when they pass through a field of cattle.
The 3 billion figure is used again and again. It is wrong. Just. Plain. Wrong.
Err. No. They don’t.
This figure is used again and again, by official bodies, by journalists, and by other groups, but it is wrong. Just. Plain. Wrong.
Where does the 3 billion figure come from? It comes from the annual MENE surveys, which consistently show a figure of around 3 billion visits a year to outdoor spaces across England. Continue reading “Myth: There are 3 billion visits…”
What we can learn from 54 separate attacks by cattle on walkers.
Carri Westgarth and Marie McIntyre are both researchers from the University of Liverpool, and both have personal reasons to be interested in attacks by cattle. They recently completed a scoping exercise to determine the extent of the problem.
What did they do? They searched newspaper reports published over a 20 year period, looking for reports of cattle attacks on walkers, including both deaths and injuries.
This is likely to be a huge underestimate of the true scale of the problem, because many attacks go unreported and unrecorded, but it’s a good start.
Here is a summary of their findings, published in 2016. They uncovered 54 separate attacks by cattle on walkers during the 20 year period. Continue reading “Some facts and figures: When cattle attack…”
How many walkers must die… before the problem is taken seriously?
One of our COWS members gets the message across, with the help of a nursery rhyme and a sketch pad..
Bulls don’t really care what colour you are wearing. Neither do cows.
Oh dear. You’ve been watching too many cartoons. This definitely is a myth.
Bulls don’t really care what colour you are wearing. Neither do cows. Cattle are virtually colour blind.
To be fair, there is some evidence cattle have limited colour receptors in their eyes, and might be able to distinguish red, although to them the colour red will look like a slightly different shade of grey.
It certainly isn’t true that bulls chase red objects and ignore the rest.
The reason a bull will appear to chase a matador’s red cape in a bull ring, is because the animal is being threatened. He charges the thing he sees moving around. The cape.
The colour of the cape is irrelevant, as was demonstrated by using different colours in a Discovery Channel myth-busting experiment.
So bull’s don’t chase the colour red. There is really no need to keep repeating this myth. It’s just not true.
Neither will avoiding wearing the colour red keep you safe from bulls. That’s not true either.
Thank you to Pixabay for the images used on this page.
Header by OpenClipart-Vectors and cartoon by Clker-free-Vector-Images
One man went walking with his dog. Next minute, he was running for his life.
One man went walking with his dog, and happened to enter a field of cows. Next minute, he was running for his life.
He captured the terrifying incident on his smart phone and, later, posted it on Twitter as a lesson to others.
“This happened at Pishiobury [near Welwyn Garden City]. I just cried and ran. My dog had to fend for himself. Literally the worst thing ever.”
NEVER EVER GOING NEAR COWS AGAIN MY VOICE SAYS IT ALL 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/WsxHdPIqKZ
— Maxwell (@JMaweiii) August 1, 2017
Listen to it with the sound turned on.
Video on Twitter
Posted with the permission of @JMaxwell.
An experienced farmer describes how he was nearly gored.
Farmer Victor Chestnutt is deputy president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union and very aware of the need to handle cattle with caution. As part of Farm Safety Week, he described how he was nearly gored by one of his own cows a few years ago. Continue reading “Cattle kill 6 a year in Northern Ireland”
Cattle Safety 