30 September 2017

Watching

Panda-Cow was watching as I walked by on the track from Roystone Grange. What was she thinking? It's almost impossible to read a cow's mind. All I know is that they watch me whenever I enter their territory. Perhaps, like Islamic State  terrorists, they are silently planning to take over the planet.

Before I could hike up to the top of Minninglow Hill, I had to traverse a  wide cow field. The varied herd was under the command of a stocky white bull with muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. When he saw me he bellowed a resounding war cry, He was a four-legged Terminator.

Most of his herd proceeded to the adjoining pasture but several stragglers remained in the field I needed to cross, including a few of this year's calves. There was an edginess about this herd and Arnie continued to bellow as if to say, "Get your lazy asses down here!"

Warily, I made my way across the field, keeping as far away from the calves as I could. A big grey beast bolted down from the ridge and I had to yell a couple of "Yee-ha's", waving my hands to divert her as the ground trembled. After all, t's not a good idea to be trampled by a 1500 pound animal.

Calmly, but with heart beating like an electric generator, I made it to the opposite stile just as this beautiful brown creature posed for my camera with the lovely Peak District landscape behind her. Like Panda-Cow, Brown Cow was watching me...

24 comments:

  1. You you do have some work to do with your stock handling. You are to be in charge, not the bovines!

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    1. I guess that you can command cows like Dr Dolittle!

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  2. "heart beating like an electric generator" . . . with expressions like that flowing from your fingers, you should be writing Valentine's day cards!

    Lovely photos. Panda-Cow is a beauty.

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    1. See Mr Brague's offering below. Now that fellow rocks when it comes to romantic verse.

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  3. Roses are red,
    Violets are blue,
    My heart beats like an electric generator
    Whenever I think of you. —N.T.

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    1. Roses are red
      Violets are blue
      That beast Robert Brague
      Belongs in a zoo!

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  4. Panda-Cow has an unusual colour combination, she seems to be black to the shoulders and then changes colour.

    Alphie

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    1. As a keen observer of cows, I agree with your summary.

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  5. Panda Cow reminds me of one of the project managers I currently works with. He has heavy, dark bags under his eyes whenever I see him; a sign of some problem with liver or gall or kidneys, I think I have read somewhere.
    Anyway, your experience only confirmed my decision to climb over the barbed wire and NOT use the public path across the pasture near Markenfield Hall back in July!

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    1. Some people think it's daft to be wary when crossing cow fields but I have crossed hundreds and I know it's best to be vigilant and sensible.

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  6. I'm not sure I would risk a field of cows when they have calves with them, I can't run very fast these days. Panda-Cow has an inscrutable expression.

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    1. One of the worst things you can do when crossing a cow field is to take a dog with you. Even when the dog is on a lead it can agitate the herd.

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  7. Let's hope your knee continues to hold up when you have these adventures!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Kylie. The right knee was a little sore the next day but didn't cause limping.

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  8. There was an experiment on TV recently ( The One Show I think ) and they showed that cows can run about twice as fast as a human ! Glad you lived to tell the tale!

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    1. Perhaps I need to attend a matador school in Spain.

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  9. You are brave to cross a field with a bull in it.

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  10. That panda cow looks kind of menacing! Glad you made it out alive!

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    Replies
    1. The wall hides her fangs and the blood dripping from her mouth.

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  11. Cows are lethal. I remember reading about cow attacks in Bill Bryson's recent book, The Road to Little Dribbling. Cows kill more people than bulls, and bulls are allowed in the same field as cows (if a public footpath goes through it) but only if they are meat cows and not dairy.

    I don't eat cows so the concept of meat cows makes me sad.

    I'd say you looked Death in its big brown bovine eyes and Death blinked first.

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    Replies
    1. I hope that I am nominated for a bravery medal - perhaps even a knighthood.

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  12. I've experienced similar surges of fear walking through British cow pastures. It's scary to be that close to a creature (or several creatures) that big!

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  13. I love the first photo. :)

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