Author Topic: Cows again  (Read 7548 times)

richardh1905

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #45 on: 18:18:10, 26/09/20 »
It is only a matter of time before someone is goosed  :)


 ;D ;D ;D
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Dodgylegs

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #46 on: 21:09:05, 26/09/20 »
Managed a steady walk down to river, through farmers fields and back, noticed a lot of new signage on all styles with various warnings about Cows.

Eyelet

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #47 on: 22:10:05, 26/09/20 »
In 2017, researchers from the University of Liverpool reviewed the reported accident data involving cattle attacks on members of the public over two decades: https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2017/06/20/cows-attack-dangerous-cattle-can-stay-safe-around/#:~:text=They%20say%20that%20on%20average,commonly%20used%20rights%20of%20way.

They identified 54 attacks by cattle on members of the public while out walking. On average two members of the public are killed in incidents involving cattle every year. Almost all incidents are in fields and enclosed areas. The most common factors are cows with calves and walkers with dogs. They concluded:

Where recorded, 91% of HSE reported fatalities on the public were caused by cows with calves; only one death involved a bull, and even this was unproven in court. Of all attacks, we found that 48% were caused by (unspecified) herds, followed by single cows (22%), cows and calves (20%), heifers (7%), and one bull attack (2%). Behavioural research suggests maternal defensive aggression may be behind many attacks.

The dog factor
Does having a dog make a difference? Yes: dogs look like predators, and they are even more threatening to dairy cattle than unfamiliar people. This is reflected in the data: 94% of walkers killed had dogs, and two thirds of all attacks involved dogs. Though our sample numbers were small, we also found evidence suggesting that women were more likely to protect their dogs, while men let them go.

HSE published guidance to the farming industry which included putting up signage and carefully considering where cattle are grazed relative to PROWs. You can read HSE's advice here:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ais17ew.pdf

No mention of killer geese or cockerels though, so they must be okay! :)

Eyelet

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #48 on: 22:25:31, 26/09/20 »
This summary report from 2010 of a legal case involving a dog walker and cows with calves (not fatal) makes interesting reading as to how the Courts assess such incidents and the degree of liability attached to the livestock keeper:


https://hau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/16824/1/de%20silva.pdf

tonyk

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #49 on: 22:51:56, 26/09/20 »



No mention of killer geese or cockerels though, so they must be okay! :)

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/08/ c-ock-kills-man-california-cockfight

harland

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #50 on: 09:06:23, 27/09/20 »
This summary report from 2010 of a legal case involving a dog walker and cows with calves (not fatal) makes interesting reading as to how the Courts assess such incidents and the degree of liability attached to the livestock keeper:
https://hau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/16824/1/de%20silva.pdf
A good article and well worth a read.

Lakeland Lorry

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #51 on: 09:24:48, 27/09/20 »

I've posted a link to the Killer Cows website before https://killercows.co.uk but thought it worthwhile posting it again.

The owner of the website set it up so that anyone who has been scared or injured by cattle can record their stories.   Some of the reports make for grim reading.   

There's also one from April and Beefy which tells about their encounter with some aggressive cattle in the North Lakes.

richardh1905

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #52 on: 09:33:41, 27/09/20 »
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/08/ c-ock-kills-man-california-cockfight


Karma. Don't give knives to cockerels!
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Toxicbunny

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #53 on: 15:41:17, 27/09/20 »
Ironically since I posted the original thread another walkers has been killed by cows.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/police-appeal-for-witnesses-after-second-walker-killed-by-cows
I walked northumberland just before lockdown and had to jump over a wall due to the largest herd of cows Ive ever seen. I ended up in a very boggy field that I had to walk for a good mile detour.  I'm not sure what breed they were. I avoid belted galloways as ive been chased by that breed twice and caught my leg on barbed wire. My family had farms and I spent my childhood on farms. I am not a lover of cows and avoid them.   

 

harland

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #54 on: 16:16:10, 27/09/20 »
It is time I took more care when encountering cows in future, I must admit I always think "I'll be alright".

"A woman has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after being trampled by a herd of cows in a field on Monday in Leicestershire. The woman was hurt as she walked her dog across a field off Mill Lane in Hoby some time before noon on Monday September 21. An eyewitness, who came across the scene and called the police, said she had been told that the injured woman had a fractured neck, broken sternum, broken collar bone and a number of broken ribs."

April

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #55 on: 16:49:38, 27/09/20 »
I've been charged at by a cow or bull in the same area as the man who died near Thirlwall Castle. I was lucky, the farmer who was on a quad bike saw the cow charging at me and drove up the field and got between me and the cow and I got over the stile and to safety. I was alone, no dog and was simply walking through the field.


RIP  :(  The man who died was from Carlisle.


There has been another attack in Cumbria
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-54273954


Poor woman, it must have been terrifying  :(
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sussamb

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #56 on: 08:58:28, 28/09/20 »
I've had the odd experience with cattle, once when even though I thought I'd given a cow and calf a wide enough berth the cow clearly disagreed, a quick change of direction and she stopped heading towards me and returned to her calf. Second was a group of about 20 or so very young and inquisitive bullocks who came towards me then stopped dead when I turned around to face them, needed a couple of face offs before I reached the stile out of the field. 


I've never hesitated to trespass when needed though to avoid cattle that I don't like the look of.
Where there's a will ...

jimbob

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #57 on: 09:10:29, 28/09/20 »
A report on Hadrians Wall facebook page tells of a motorist who rescued a cyclisr  near Burgh being harassed by a cow, he put his car between cow and cyclist and got him to safety, on returning down the road to get back to where he was going, the same cow was attacking two walkers. A friend of mine, had to have a leg amputated due to an attack. He was a farmer, and had reared the herd and was familiar with all of them, but he made a mistake which cost him his leg.  Be wary, they can be as unpredictable as humans.
Too little, too late, too bad......

Eyelet

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #58 on: 10:26:14, 28/09/20 »
Just back from a superb walk over Cross Fell yesterday with a friend and no dog. On our return to Milburn our route took us on the footpath from Ranbeck to Wythwaite adopted by the A Pennine Journey Trail. We passed through a gate with a “Caution - Cows with calves can be aggressive” notice on it. We could see a herd of cows and calves ahead accompanied by a substantial bull. We walked across the field giving them a very wide berth. The cattle all watched us but made no movements towards us whatsoever. When we reached the cottage at Wythwaite we met a lovely lady who had unfortunately been attacked by one of the same cows in the same field a few weeks back also without a dog, sustaining injury. She had remained on the track and thought she was far enough away from them. The farmer came and removed half the animals to a different field and mentioned that the weather conditions could make them skittish, which I’d not heard before.

I must have walked through fields with cattle on hundreds of occasions without a problem. I always treat them with respect especially if cows are with their calves and plan my route accordingly, also looking at whether the walls/fences could be climbed if necessary. I also look for the presence of other walkers relative to me, whether they have dogs with them, and how the cattle are reacting. One thing to look for is when the calves are in the centre of a ring of their mothers, a bit like the circle of a wagon train when attacked by Indians in the movies, keeping their animals in the centre. You obviously want to keep very well clear of this formation, regardless of the line of the footpath. If the circle is in the middle of a long narrow field, this would be an indication for a spot of trespassing to avoid it.

Like Sussamb, I have met herds of young inquisitive bullocks who have galloped up a field to inspect me a few times, but never aggressively and readily faced-off. (I accept that others might regard this behaviour differently, especially if they can’t identify them as bullocks!) :-\

The only time I have ever had an issue was on a trek in Ladakh where two of us met a youngish one-horned yak, who looked like he had been recently fighting and was still in some pain judging by the bellowing and the bloody stump of the missing horn. When it pawed the ground and began to move towards us, it took successive fusillades of well-aimed stones of increasing size to drive it away and it happily retreated for good. ;D
« Last Edit: 11:04:05, 28/09/20 by Eyelet »

Lakeland Lorry

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Re: Cows again
« Reply #59 on: 16:05:08, 04/10/20 »

 

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