Nervous around cows.

Archeron

Hi all

Before you laugh, I'll point out that I am not of a farming background, and grew up in Dublin suburbs. I am unfamiliar with livestock, so thats reason I wanted to ask this question.

My hobby of photography takes me all around Ireland, and on the rare occasion, I find myself in places where cows are grazing.
I never ever enter private land, but sometimes cows are in public places owned by the OPW etc, which is of course fine, but their presence makes me uneasy.

Anytime I come across a public site where there are cows, I am somewhat reluctant to enter, as I am not familiar with how a group of cows view people, and I am conscious that they are big animals, and seem to be drawn to see what people are up to. I have heard before that they are really inquisitive animals.
The last time I did, I got permission from a landowner to go to a building on his land that I was interested in. He told me to head on up, and ignore the cows. I did so, but when I came out of the building, the cows had gathered at the fence I had to climb over, and I was nervous making my way through the herd. They also started mooing loudly when I was passing them (I realize how funny that sounds). If its of any relevance, the cows had calves with them at the time.

Anytime I mention to people my hesitance in being around cows, they laugh and tell me that cows are docile and harmless, but my gut instinct is always to be more than careful, so more often than not, I will not enter the area. I should note that people I mention this to are not of a farming background either.

So I wanted to ask here, am I being stupidly nervous around cows, or is my reluctance anyway justified?

Thanks for any advice,

bob charles

Archeron wrote: »

Hi all

Before you laugh

So I wanted to ask here, am I being stupidly nervous around cows, or is my reluctance anyway justified?

Thanks for any advice,

No reason to laugh its good to see you ask such a question than be roaming around fields of animals with all sorts and maybe putting both yourself and the animals in danger.

First rule would be that for someone not directly linked to the animal shouldnt be in a field with both cows and calves at foot. this is one of the most lethal places you could put yourself in.

You not being stupidly nervous, as if you google farm deaths related to animals each year they are high.

im in a bit of a rush so someone else can take up the mantle from here

Bizzum

Archeron wrote: »

So I wanted to ask here, am I being stupidly nervous around cows, or is my reluctance anyway justified?

Being nervous of cattle is no real bad thing. 99% of the time there is no problem, they are docile but curious. The problem is to the inexperienced ,(and indeed even the experienced sometimes!) the seemingly docile can be two seconds from killing you the other 1% of the time.
It's no joke if you manage to get yourself caught between a newly born calf and her mother being all 'maternal'.
I suppose if you can avoid cattle, do so. If they are there near you, stay alert and keep along the hedge/fence, dont get caught out in the open if you can avoid it.

babybrian

yeah its good that you are nervous and I agree fully with the two comments above, I think if you always try and ask the farmer for permission you are grand because they will tell you if it is dangerous or not. Depends on the time of year too, with calves cows can be narky, another time of year the bull might be narky but the farmer will tell you this. Also the black and white ones are generally no problem as these are dairy herds and well used to humans(twice day milking) but its the other colours to be a little more cautious of.

Bizzum

babybrian wrote: »

Also the black and white ones are generally no problem as these are dairy herds and well used to humans(twice day milking) but its the other colours to be a little more cautious of.

On the issue of dairy /black & white herds, be conscious that there just may be a black & white bull mixed in with the cows! A wolf in wolfs clothing so to speak!:eek:

pakalasa

You are right to be wary. A lot of experienced farmers are killed every year by their own livestock. Cows can be up to 700 Kg or more in weight, and even though they may run to you out of curiosity, they could easily push one another up on top of you. You should also check to see if there is a bull in the field. they don't always have a ring in their nose, but they tend to look bigger and stronger.
As said above try and avoid going into a field with cattle and if you do, stick to the perimeter of the field and carry a stick with you. Wave the stick at them and it should keep them back.

Archeron

Brilliant, thanks for all the great replies everybody, much appreciated.

just do it

Agree with all above. Better to be safe than sorry. Stay out of the field, or if you've no option, stay close to the fence so that you can get out quickly if need be.

Having said all that given the care you take you'd want to be awefully unlucky for anything to happen.

Dont be daft

OP, you've the right attitude. If you dont know the stock then it really is risky to go into the middle of them.
And as for the black and whites, its all black and white on my farm and if you where to go into the field you'd be in the middle of 20 of the most dangerous bulls you can find.

I've seen whole families out in my fields picking mushrooms and 20 or so young friesan bulls in the same field. No exaggeration, little kids, chatty mothers and hard men genius fathers who take offence to being told their risking their kids lives :rolleyes:

1chippy

Dont worry dont be daft those families will be seeing a lot more than bulls chasing them when they eat those mushrooms.

Baralis1

This is a very useful thread for those inexperienced with cattle. I would be very experienced around cattle and while I would know all our own cattle very well, I would be very cautious walking through someone elses herd. While I would be able to read the warning signs of a cross cow or bull easily, it's not easy to size up a large group of cattle very quickly and sometimes there are no signs until it's too late.

The most dangerous types of cattle are obviously bulls, cows with new born calves or also notably, cows near calving which the inexperienced person will not realise, and young bulls, in particular herds of them being reared for bull beef, which can be extremely dangerous. Outside of that, individual cows, heifers and bullocks can occasionally be cross, although it's very rare in a young animal or bullock.
On top of cross animals, you can have herds of bullock or weanlings (large calves) which can be used to being bucket fed and may be too familar with humans and could playfully butt or puck a person potentially causing harm.

Having said that, some herds of cattle are completely safe to walk in around but only the farmer who is familar with the cattle will know that for certain.

Cattle always have the potential to be dangerous and should never be trusted by someone who doesn't know them. I would advise an inexperienced person never to enter a field with cows/cattle without either being accommpanied by an experienced cattle handler or being expressly told by the person who regularly looks after the cattle that there is absolutely no danger from that particular herd.

Also, as mentioned before, carry a stick if possible and always have a planned escape route in your head if the worst comes to the worst, i.e. stay near a fence or hedge where possible.

iverjohnston

And never, never bring a dog with you. two things can happen, 1) a cow will chase any dog if she has a calf with her. The bloody dog will either run away and the cow follow, or more likely run TO you, and try and hide behind you, getting YOU killed in the process. Or 2) Someone could easily shoot the dog, if its in a field with sheep. Good luck with the photography, by the way. B&W or colour? Post a few pic's up here till we see what you've got!
Iver in Cavan

just do it

iverjohnston wrote: »

And never, never bring a dog with you. two things can happen, 1) a cow will chase any dog if she has a calf with her. The bloody dog will either run away and the cow follow, or more likely run TO you, and try and hide behind you, getting YOU killed in the process. Or 2) Someone could easily shoot the dog, if its in a field with sheep. Good luck with the photography, by the way. B&W or colour? Post a few pic's up here till we see what you've got!
Iver in Cavan

+1

Dont be daft

1chippy wrote: »

Dont worry dont be daft those families will be seeing a lot more than bulls chasing them when they eat those mushrooms.

I'd a plate of them for breakfast that morning meself so who knows, maybe I was seeing things and there was no bulls in the field at all:D

Archeron

iverjohnston wrote: »

And never, never bring a dog with you. two things can happen, 1) a cow will chase any dog if she has a calf with her. The bloody dog will either run away and the cow follow, or more likely run TO you, and try and hide behind you, getting YOU killed in the process. Or 2) Someone could easily shoot the dog, if its in a field with sheep. Good luck with the photography, by the way. B&W or colour? Post a few pic's up here till we see what you've got!
Iver in Cavan

Thanks again for the replies everybody, great advice here, and greatly appreciated.

Iver, thanks for that too. I do black and white and colour, black and white usually when the weather is bad and the skies are grey. I have a particular interest in castles and ruined mansions, and because so many of them are on on what is now farmland, it's the reason I end up sometimes being in places with livestock. Again though, I want to mention I never enter land without express permission, which is why a lot of my expeditions tend to end up being unsuccesful, it can be hard to contact people. Worth it when I can though!

Really great to see all the great advice here, I'm chuffed to learn so much from this thread
Cheers again!