cows – Cattle Safety

Dartmoor common land stand off with cow

Incident number: 998

Response ID: 307,430,357

Date of incident: 17.09.24

Location: Dartmoor Nearest village: Gidleigh (What three words careful.showrooms.studio)

Status: Two people with dog on lead on PRW

Anonymous report “We were on a footpath on a remote part of Dartmoor a couple of miles away from Scorhill stone circle, just to the north west of Rival Tor. We had previously passed 2 groups of black cows without incident. We saw the cow ahead, not far from the path. It started running aggressively towards us. My husband stood firm and bellowed at it, also waving his walking stick. I walked on with our dog still on a short lead while there was a stand-off between my husband and the cow. The cow started to shake its head which we knew was a sign of danger. Worried it was about to charge him, my husband started to walk away at which point it started running around towards me. I had let the dog off at this point as thought this was best. Luckily the cow stopped and there was another standoff. Fortunately it then lost interest as we walked away. It was particularly frightening as there was nowhere for us to escape to – no hedge, no stream, no gully, just open featureless moorland.”

Further thoughts “There was a sign by the car park from the Gidleigh Commoners Association. FOR YOUR SAFETY PLEASE KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM ALL CATTLE ESPECIALLY WITH CALVES – went on to give more info about precautions and danger signs, the final advice was, amid danger signs eg cows shaking heads and pawing ground “to retire as calmly and quickly as possible” and then “if a cow actually offers (sic) to attack you let any dog off the lead and the cow may focus interest on the dog while you retreat calmly” The problem is – where do you retreat to in open moorland where there are no fences/boundaries???”

Serious Injuries and an A and E visit

Incident number: 999

Response ID: 307,458,142

Date of incident: 24.07.24

Location: St Johns in the Vale, Near Keswick Cumbria (What 3 words beads.successes.goodness)

Status: Loan walker with dog on lead on PRW

Mark’s story

“Had been unable to locate the end of the planned public path and so had to follow another public path onto the valley floor and along the side of St John Beck north east of Thirlmere reservoir. After passing through a field with cattle entered another field and after passing a heard of approx. 16 – 18 cattle roughly have adult half calf’s I looked back an noticed they were starting to follow me. This then developed into a gallop with one adult at the front heading towards me. I moved over from the path to an area of reeds and water thinking if I get across they wouldn’t follow but before I got much further the front cow dropped down as I had already slipped down and then crashed into me. It’s head into my left side and I believe one of its knees into my leg”

Mark sustained two broken ribs and tibia plateau fracture in my his leg.

Marks adds “I would like to see improvements in public path signage and maintenance. At the end of the day I would not have had to enter this field to get back to my starting point if the path I wanted which was on the other side of a stone wall with no cattle could of been located.”

Walking on the Saxon Shore Way between Sandwich and Plucks Gutter

Incident number: 997

Response ID: 307,395,004

Date of incident: 01.09.24

Location: Saxon Shore Way between Richborough and Plucks Gutter

Status: Loan walker with no dog on PRW

Kaite’s story

“Walking on the Saxon Shore Way between Sandwich and Plucks Gutter recently, there were a number of very large open fields with cattle roaming freely including cows with calves, and no realistic way to avoid them – no alternative paths, no fencing etc. Most of the time when I came across them I had no idea prior to entering the field (often some way back) that there were cattle and I didn’t really have any choice but to hope for the best and go on. The first couple of times turned out to be fine (including a field with cows with calves, which I normally avoid). However in the third field with cattle a cow was standing right in my way, and eventually began to approach me. I backed away and slid down the river bank, and she followed, standing at the top of the bank – a group had now joined her. I waited to see if they would move but they stayed there. Fortunately I had a dry bag with me (I am a keen swimmer and had hoped to swim in the river at some point) so I managed to pack my things into the dry bag, get into the river and swim across, then picking up the path on the opposite bank where fortunately there were no cattle. I don’t know whether they would have hurt me but I wasn’t going to find out – having been chased on three previous occasions I am nervous around cows and try to avoid them wherever I can. Since the incident I have read online that other walkers have had run-ins with cows in the same part of the SSW. It’s a very isolated walk (I’m not sure I saw a single other walker all day) so there was no option to wait for another walker to brave the cattle together, and if I had been hurt it would have been hard to get help.”

Katie also added a link to the walk on Alltrails and previous warnings of cows

Saxon Shore Way: Sandwich to Hillborough, Kent, England – 7 Reviews, Map | AllTrails

Seasoned Hiker: chased by aggressive cows

If I hadn’t run away, they would have trampled me for sure.

On the 5th November, 2022, I was walking on my own along a public footpath near Watermills Wood in Staffordshire. I could see around 15-20 young cows in the field, but the footpath led straight up the edge of the field to a farmhouse only about 200 metres away. It was raining heavily.