Serious injuries and no laughing matter.
A few weeks ago, Della White and her husband Michael were walking their dogs near their home in the New Forest.
“We saw a white cow with horns and her calf,” her husband told reporters. “I called our two sheepdogs close and my wife put our other dog on a lead. Suddenly I heard my wife shout behind me.” Continue reading “New Forest: cow tramples woman”
I waved my arms and roared loudly as the cow bore down on us.
My girlfriend, my dog and I were walking along the Wales Coast Path, on the Llyn Peninsula, in June 2018. We passed through a turnstile to find a herd of cows with calves. We proceeded to pass quietly along the path with our dog, aged 8, who has walked in the country with us all his life and never bothers with cattle, horses or sheep.
Keeping an eye on the cattle, I noticed one of the mothers getting agitated and starting to make a noise. She was at least 10 metres away, and she started to stamp and run at myself and our dog. Continue reading “Angry cow on the Wales Coast Path”
The fields have become dangerous places to be.
Spring has sprung and summer is here, and the cows are out in the fields. And so the fields have become dangerous places to be. Here we report three recent cattle attacks. Continue reading “Trampling season well under way”
These aggressive animals were way more than ‘just curious’.
It was May 2017, and we were walking near Morwenstow (on the Devon/Cornwall border). There were four of us, and we had our large Estrela Mountain Dog on a lead. We had left the South West Coast Path and were heading inland to Morwenstow village, following along a public right of way as marked on the Ordnance Survey map for the area.
Suddenly, over the horizon appeared about 15 head of young Friesians running at speed. Within seconds they had our dog (now slipped from the lead) at bay against a sheer cliff.
Thank goodness there were four of us, and by shouting and judicious use of walking poles we were able to clear a way to run the 800 metres or so along the field edge to the next stile. Unluckily the field tapered, and we were almost headed off at the very end by these very aggressive animals who could easily outrun us and our dog. They showed absolutely no fear.
We made it by seconds and narrowly avoided a very ugly incident as these animals were way more than ‘just curious’.
Even a year later we are super aware of any cattle on our side of the fence… and this has in all honesty greatly affected both our enjoyment of the countryside in general and of Cornwall in particular.
A note to the ‘authorities’ … quite apart from issues of justice and compensation, unless the threat from livestock can properly be brought under control you risk losing considerable tourist ££s as well.
I had always thought that dairy cattle were milder mannered than beef cattle but apparently every rule has its exceptions, and the ‘rules’ for dealing with these incidents are worse than useless.
Photo credit: the featured photo of an Estrela Mountain Dog was modified by COWS from an original by Pleple2000 on Wikimedia, and is shared under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 3.0
The cows repeatedly kicked me all over my body.
In 2008, I was walking with a friend. We were on a footpath crossing farmland in West Sussex, and we had three dogs walking quietly with us and all on leads.
There were cows in the field. I don’t know the breed, but they were mainly brown cows. They didn’t have young calves but there were some probably not yet fully grown. Continue reading “Ruth’s story: broken nose and fractured ribs.”
Now, we are both very wary of entering a field with cows.
In 2010, my husband and I were in our late 50s and were walking along a footpath somewhere in Somerset. We came to a field containing cows, and my husband walked diagonally across the field ( I walked round the edge ).
A large cow started to follow him, and I urged my husband to hurry to the stile at the edge of the field, as I didn’t like the look of the cow. The cow then made as if to mount my husband, rearing up, just as he got to the stile. Luckily he escaped unharmed.
Cows are VERY big, and we found the incident very scary.
A second incident, at another time in north Devon, involved my husband being rushed at by a large number of young bullocks and totally surrounded. No harm was done, but this incident was also very scary.
My husband was raised in the country and worked on farms in his youth, so he wasn’t in the least bit scared of cows – as I was – until these incidents. Now, however, he’s completely changed his mind and we are both very wary of entering a field with cows in it. Unfortunately, this has impacted on any walks we may want to do in the countryside, as we always have to ask – “Will there be cows?” If “Yes” we think again or make sure we keep to the edges and can quickly climb over the fence!
I do feel very strongly that farmers whose land includes a public footpath should NOT have cows there, or should put up a walkway through the field, protected by an electric fence, for legitimate walkers to use.
My injuries were severe. All my ribs were fractured and I had a punctured lung.
I was a fit and active 68 year old, a keen walker and solo caravanner, walking twice a week with the U3A. Then I met a cow, and my life changed… Continue reading “Featured story – Brenda’s tale”
They were going full-out. I yelled and jumped, and waved my arms.
In May, 2017, I was walking with a friend along the Serpent’s Trail through the South Downs. We were somewhere near Petworth, and had strayed slightly off the trail because we misread a sign. Continue reading “Elizabeth had to run for the gate.”
The cow trampled down the grandmother, and was trying to kill the boy.
In May 2015, I was walking with my husband along a footpath through a field behind Redhurst Cottage, Wetton Mill, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire
We walked past a group of cows and met a small boy with his grandmother walking in the opposite direction. I heard the grandmother say, Continue reading “Kathleen ran to rescue a trampled boy”
I was housebound, unable to move or walk, and in considerable pain for two months
I was walking alone on a footpath in Somerset, 1st September 2017, and had nearly reached Chardstock, when a large herd of bullocks made a bee-line for me. Continue reading “Mike’s story: housebound after an attack”
We noticed scattered cattle, and then one black cow began behaving strangely.
In August 2016, my wife and I were walking on Dartmoor near Sticklepath (grid reference SX 625925). We noticed scattered cattle, and then one black cow began behaving strangely. Continue reading “Simon meets a rogue black cow.”
My wife ended up with a bruise on her forehead and a black eye.
In 2014, my wife and I were walking on a marked trail near a golf course, near Bungay, in Suffolk.
The trail cut across a field for about 200 yards. We noticed there was a group of about 30 cows to our right at a distance of 50 yards, and three or four cattle/bulls to our left at about 100 yards. There were no calves in the field. Continue reading “The Americans ran for it!”
Cattle Safety 