Wild food in Ireland

Saralee4 wrote: »

are the bullox in the field with the female cows? they cant mate anyway because they are castrated. Awh that really is cruel. We are evil aren't we. The poor bullox cows don't even get to mate in their life because we castrate them!

Bulls go through a mating season I think. So their not like human males that are always looking, they only get the urge to mate at particular times of the year. I would guess castrated bulls don't get the urges at all if they've lost their balls.

I just wonder if most farms would die out fairly quick in the event of apocalypse because there is no bull to mate with the female cows if the farmer is dead and all the cows are locked up.

I think if cows start getting hungry and there's no sign of the farmer they'll just smash through the gates, walls or whatever else is standing in their way. If the apocalypse comes in winter they could be stuck in sheds and die.

Most cattle will probably just die out, we have to keep them feed during winter months so without that food many might die in the first year. Once the excess is gone they should establish a fairly healthy and stable population. Time will probably see forests growing back which would reduce cattle numbers slightly.

Saralee4 wrote: »

Yea it's kind of a sad life they have. On the other hand, would cows still exist if they weren't farmed today or do you reckon they would be extinct now? Probably only a few maybe they would live like wild deer?

Something like wild dear, although wild cattle probably have a greater range. They can live on plains or wooded areas, they would basically go where ever they want and wouldn't be quite as flighty as deer. Especially with a big bull around, he'd probably be looking for something to fight with to impress he's harem.

The Hawaiian example I posted above shows their more than capable of surviving on their own, it's just that in Europe they don't have anywhere they can roam without being under the management of humans. If society broke down cattle would go wild and more than likely get on quite well, they don't have much competition from other herbivores.


Cattle in Ireland have a fairly good life, they get to roam free and do what they love doing. Eating. They'd find it hard going the first year being on their own.

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

It's all coming out now, zombie apocalypse, no bother but we've learned what Scumlord is really afraid of, cows

I live in the countryside and have to pass them on a daily basis. They're clearly plotting something. :pac:

But these are the kind of realities that most zombie stories ignore. People won't be able to just wander out into the countryside and only have to worry about zombies and bandits. You'll try to hide from bandits roaming the road network only to find you've hopped into a field with a 2 tone bull in musth. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

In an apocalyptic scenario food would be plentiful in Ireland. Why wild food? We are an country with huge agriculture and horticulture crops and very few live people to eat and harvest them. If food is not harvested it goes to seed and grows again. Pretty much everything that grows In a field will continue to do so for years to come. There will be acres and arcres of abandoned glasshouses and polytunnels to grow less hardy crops although, while watering may pose initial problems, rainwater gathering isn't rocket science.

Our agriculture would need to be managed, while it's true that they'd go to seed they'd be in competition with all the native wild plants. Remember that all our grains are not native, they have followed the human race all the way from the middle east. I think it would be unlikely that they could out compete weeds and once forests start to take over again they'll be fighting over smaller and smaller plots of land.

I think even after one or two years we could find that many of the typical farmed crops are hard to find or eradicated by hardier native plants.

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

To delve into cow-gate a bit more ..... I think (no science or experience here) that the cows are currently so large because they are docile, regularly fed, and protected (against disease, predators, etc), so wouldnt they be smaller & thinner if returned to the wild? OK, they wont be sheep-size, but notably leaner and less populous. Also, they dont have natural predators (at the moment), but wild dog packs after the ZA would surely take down the young & small.

Wild dogs would probably go for sheep first. They did in the past before there was the big campaign to keep your dogs locked up at night. Our dog population will probably wittle itself into one or two breeds of wild dog which could be capable of taking out sick cattle.

The numbers of cattle will more than likely drop, most cattle are segregated by sex, so many cows may not find a bull to impregnate them. With no humans to feed them in winter many may die off and may strip the countryside in the process eating whatever's available. But once the excess is wiped out they should be able to establish themselves and thrive. I don't know that they'll get any smaller.

Forests regrowing will limit the spread of many animals, cows won't have big pastures to roam, dogs won't have large areas to try and run down their prey.