View Full Version : COWS! livestock!
TinAbbey
08-16-2007, 22:09
I was thinking of the places the trail goes right thru pastures today where you are in cow territory like in VA or NY. I was wondering if anyone has had any interesting experiences with them. I was imagining some deciding to do some night hiking and walking up a bull's ass. anyone?
All of the cows I've ever met have been afraid of people....unless they think you have food, or they recognize you because you have given them food in the past. In that case, they chase you a little. Otherwise their hobbies include: pooping, eating, staring at you, and pooping while eating and staring at you.
Jim Adams
08-16-2007, 22:52
All of the cows I've ever met have been afraid of people....unless they think you have food, or they recognize you because you have given them food in the past. In that case, they chase you a little. Otherwise their hobbies include: pooping, eating, staring at you, and pooping while eating and staring at you.
sounds like every cow I've ever met!:D
geek
Pedaling Fool
08-16-2007, 23:08
All of the cows I've ever met have been afraid of people....unless they think you have food, or they recognize you because you have given them food in the past. In that case, they chase you a little. Otherwise their hobbies include: pooping, eating, staring at you, and pooping while eating and staring at you.
Me too, except this little bull that did not want me to pass through "his" field. This was ~ 1 - 2 miles north of Trimpi Shelter.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=18148&catid=newimages&cutoffdate=1
These are the times when cows deserve to be tipped :)
Tipi Walter
08-17-2007, 05:26
I've spent many nights stealth camping in cowfields and other than setting up the tent on a cowpie I think cow pastures offer the best tent camping. One time near Grayson Highlands I drank cow-tainted water and puked all night by my tent but that was my own fault. Another time I was trying to reach a good spot at night and stumbled into a fully charged electric fence which I blamed on the cows. :)
Horses can be more of a pest though and will bite.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
08-17-2007, 05:56
The female dino's grandfather owned a dairy farm and also had beef cattle. With the exception of a territorial bulls (usually during the 21 days or so that the cows are in heat), you are very unlikely to have problems with cattle. They are docilie critters.
Cattle are like people in that they have personal space. Wild and rarely handled cattle have a larger amount of personal space than cattle that are accoustomed to human contact. As you move into their personal space, they will become nervous. Keep in mind that a cow / bull has a very wide angle of vision, but cannot see directly behind itself. If you move into a cow / bull's personal space in this blind spot, it will perceive you as a threat and act accordingly - so don't do it!
Approach cattle slowly and from the front or side-rear. It's instinct is to move away while still keeping you in sight. This is the most effective way to get a cow or bull out of your way.
Toolshed
08-17-2007, 07:39
I worked on Dairy farms here and in the UK while growing up (Gr-r-rab your wellies boys, the cawwws are in the byrrrre.) Dino is spot on. I have only 2 words of caution to add Bulls and Pies.
Pies are self explanatory.
Bulls are unpredictable. Really unpredictable. You'll be able to tell a bull from a cow or steer by looking low between the hind legs. Don't use horns as a sign.
In many cases, farmers no longer maintain bulls but hire the services of a breeder who comes to the farm usually every days or so, depending on how amny head, and checks the charts of each cow that is coming into heat. The farmer tells the breeder which bull he would like semen from (there are catalogs). The breeder usually keeps about 50 semen specimens deep frozen in nitrogen in his truck.
Usually Dairy Farms do not raise steer. They may keep the calves for veal, but at 500# or more, they usually sell them off to a farm that specializes in beef cattle/steer.
superman
08-17-2007, 08:28
Winter is a white German Shepard. When we crossed our first cow field the cows saw Winter as a wolf (threat). We were well into the field before I realized what the problem was. I had Winter tuck in close behind me and the cows relaxed. It was as if Winter had become invisible. Winter quickly learned to automatically tuck in close behind me whenever there were cows around. The cows never had any concern when Winter was right behind me. I should have posted this to the dog thread.
Pennsylvania Rose
08-17-2007, 08:51
Cows freak me out. I was walking through a pasture once and all 50 or so turned to face me, chewed their cud, and STARED at me until I was well past. It was creepy.
taildragger
08-17-2007, 09:21
The only times that cows have ever made me nervouse are when I'm stealthing through the woods in full camo and just happen to end up right in a small part of a herd. They tend not to like this 6' Entish creature walking around. I've only had one cow act like she was going to charge me, but she was a wild cow from Florida.
If the herd is staring at you, and not really letting you pass, you can just move towards them, move your arms around and use a loud voice (being from Oklahoma, I prefer the phrase "Come on mommaa cow, gitemup")
Warning: The above does not work with buffallo
Landshark
08-17-2007, 09:26
Once while hiking on private land in Vermont (not on the AT/LT) I came across a TON of tracks that I thought were moose tracks. I think you know where this is going... I was thinking "oh boy, I am going to see a moose!" I came around a corner into a huge herd of cows. They pretty much just went "Moo!" and got out of my way. However, when driving out of there later they were all hanging out in the road and they did NOT want to move for me to drive past. I had to inch the car up right under their noses and they looked extremely disdainful as they stepped just barely out of the way to let me pass. Not like the grass growing down the center of the road looked any tastier than the grass along the sides!
Another time I was roadwalking with a friend near Clarendon gorge. A huge group of cows on the other side of a fence all looked up at once, saw us, and began to follow us along the fence, mooing and looking at us and keeping pace with us the whole way! One of us must have looked like the farmer that feeds them....
Fiddleback
08-17-2007, 09:34
sounds like every cow I've ever met!:D
geek
Shoot! It sounds like a bunch of people I've met...:D :D
FB
superman
08-17-2007, 10:07
All of the cows I've ever met have been afraid of people....unless they think you have food, or they recognize you because you have given them food in the past. In that case, they chase you a little. Otherwise their hobbies include: pooping, eating, staring at you, and pooping while eating and staring at you.
When I was a kid we had a one cow (plus other animals) farm. It was my job (among other chores) to milk "Lucy" the cow. Her hobbies (in addition to the above) included trying to swat me with her tail and trying to step in the milk bucket as I milked her.
Alligator
08-17-2007, 14:03
I had some difficulties with cows. I came in late one night to I think it's called the Davis Farm Campsite in VA. Nice view into the valley. I should have realized there could be trouble 'cause one area of the pad had a big ole cow pie on it. Threw some leaves on it and set up nearby. In the morning, I went over to get water. Before I left, I noticed the fence had lost a crosspiece down in the pasture. Didn't think much of it. Then I noticed the water source was fenced in. The water looked secure so I pumped up a few liters and headed back. When I got back, there were a couple of cows surrounding the tent pad. One cow was licking my tent. I chased it off but it left a nasty slimer on the fly. I spent the morning shooing cows with a branch while packing up.
Somewhere on the AT (I think it was in Virginia), I was hiking through an easement.
I walked, the cows followed.
I walked a little faster, the cows went faster.
I ran a little bit, they ran!
I made it to the stile.
At a shelter later that night, I saw a fellow AT hiker. He did not "escape" and was instead licked by the cows a bit.
Somehow the cows in the area have learned to associate sweaty hikers and their salt encusted clothes and gear as walking salt licks. :eek:
Then there's the CDT (Cattle Droppings Trail)....
Somewhere on the AT (I think it was in Virginia), I was hiking through an easement.
I walked, the cows followed.
I walked a little faster, the cows went faster.
I ran a little bit, they ran!
I made it to the stile.
At a shelter later that night, I saw a fellow AT hiker. He did not "escape" and was instead licked by the cows a bit.
Somehow the cows in the area have learned to associate sweaty hikers and their salt encusted clothes and gear as walking salt licks. :eek:
Maybe they heard tell of a hiker feed and were wondering if it was any good?;)
Frolicking Dinosaurs
08-17-2007, 15:22
The cows are providing a trail service. (http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/lowcarbscoop/Cowlick.jpg)
The cows are providing a trail service. (http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/lowcarbscoop/Cowlick.jpg)
Dino, you've got some strange cows where you live. In The Green Diamond, our dairy cows are too busy eating our tender alfalfa, clover and other fine forages grown to perfection by Berks County farmers to be bothered with such silly games.:rolleyes: ;)
Oh, Dino, by the way, there's a reason we keep the animals up on The Blue Mountain as much as we can.;)
Truth be told, those who love The Blue Mountain don't want them there either. Who wants animals that serve no purpose?;)
Truth be told, those who love The Blue Mountain don't want them there either. Who wants animals that serve no purpose?;)
Steak. Hamburgers. Veal.
Mmmmm..
Mags, did you notice anything unusual about the hair of that hiker you mentioned earlier?;)
leeki pole
08-17-2007, 17:43
These are the times when cows deserve to be tipped :)
Ah, cow tippin'...sounds like fun! City folks need not apply.:)
Mags, did you notice anything unusual about the hair of that hiker you mentioned earlier?;)
I dunno. I was thru-hiking. I was just thinking about the forms of cow I'd be eating when I got into town. :)
Cows freak me out. I was walking through a pasture once and all 50 or so turned to face me, chewed their cud, and STARED at me until I was well past. It was creepy.
How would you react if you were attending a banquet with all your friends and having a great time when some stinkin', uninvited hiker crashed your party and acted like you were in her space?:rolleyes: ;)
Rose, watch out for those Virginia cowslips next spring!:D
The AT does thru Orange, Putham and Dutchess Counties of NY. I did not see any cow on the AT in Orange County
Kerosene
08-18-2007, 22:43
Just north of Trimpi Shelter in southern Virginia the AT passes through a cow pasture. It was near dusk at the end of a 22-mile day SOBO from US-11 when I heard one cow moo, followed soon thereafter by what I assumed was a calf mooing in the lower part of the field. This probably happened 20 times while I was traversing the field, with me in the middle. As I approached the mom, she started running toward me. I stepped out of the way and she hurriedly went to collect her calf (at least I think that's what she was doing).
Hmmm....I read in Reader's Digest that if you are in a pasture in view of a herd of cows and you suddenly drop and lay flat on the ground, that the herd will form a tight circle around you and stare at you. I tried it today only to discover that the ground in our field is home to many fire ants that apparently don't belong to any discernable ant hill. I couldn't stay on the ground long enough for the cows to get curious. Sounds like a possible AT adventure to me.....
7Sisters
08-25-2007, 05:56
You'll also pass thru a cow pasture in Vermont. Just after you cross VT103 (Clarendon).
I've had the similar experience as a couple of you:
Passing thru the fields and having the heard just stare at you with their big heads and big eyes, chewing away at their food. I found it amusing and couldn't resist mooing at them. Some of them mooed back and than I laughed at the situation - thinking if my wife or my coworkers saw me in a field all sweaty and stinky, with a backpack on and mooing at some cows.
Unfortunately I've do this mooing thing in most of the fields I walk thru - especially if I'm alone. Guess it's someone to talk to.:)
I've also been electricuted(sp) by the wire fences (as has my dog). It's a delayed ouch. It really hurt because it was raining when it happened to both of us.
The other
It's also fun to baa at wild goats...
7Sisters
08-25-2007, 18:58
yea I done that as well - it's just that they don't flock in herds of 20 or so.
On a solo kayak trip on the St. John River I had trouble finding a place to camp without being over-run by cows. First night was just up river from Gagetown. The site was clear as the cows were off and away, but there were 'signs', which made it a bit tricky pitching the tent. In the morning I awoke to sounds. The seemed to be coming from cows, rather shy, yet thirsty. I quickly broke camp as I was pulling away from the beach I looked around to see the bull up on the bank, 10 feet behind me. "Leaving so soon, he seemed to ask."
The second night was on my way back down from Oromocto, on Ox Island. It also had cows. These cows were much less shy. I learned later they associate people with the farmers that feed them, so they would walk right up closer, and closer. I have since learned to know cows better, but at the time I was a total greenhorn when it comes to cows. So I didn't pitch the tent that night. Instead I slept under the stars like a real cowboy. Well actually more like under a fallen tree under the stars afraid to get stepped on, so maybe not a real cowboy. If my kayak had an engine I would have kept it running.
Funny story. I kept in cell phone contact and I had told my daughter who was about 3 or 4 at the time about sleeping with the cows the first night. When I got back they said they had gone shopping up in Moncton, and of course drove past many farms along the Kennebecasis River Valley. So he mother says, "Margaret. Look. Cows." So my daughter sits up in he car seat straining to look, "Do you see my Daddy anywhere?"
LIhikers
08-29-2007, 16:34
This past April my wife and I headed southbound from the CT/NY state line for a few days on the AT. We climbed the stile and crossed the cow field that's near that old water tower on the hill. My wife had our 80 pound shephard's leash hooked to her belt and the dog caught the cow's intrest. They followed us clear cross the field and our dog seemed to be real happy, almost as if he was with friends. On my computer at home I have a great picture of the cows following the wife and dog as if they were the pied piper. I'll try to remember to add it to the photo section in the next day or two.
flyingduckmonster
08-29-2007, 17:39
My grandfather's Boston bull terrier was best friends with the cow that lived next door to them. They used to walk up and touch noses.
I never tried camping with cows, though. Sounds pretty funny.
Just gote off the trail!!! I did seeseveral cows on the trail. It was on the AT near the bounder of NY/NJ.. They just\looked at me.
jodestick
09-03-2007, 19:40
i was on the trail this weekend. there were about 15 of us camped at doll flats in TN. we had some cows wander into the campsite at night. several people thought they were bears and got scared! pretty funny! cows are harmless.
now, the horses we saw on hump mt. charged one group yesterday....that was weird!
horses we saw on hump mt. charged one group yesterday!
When on Hump Mountain, jodestick, you should never call out "Hey!" to get the attention of your hiking partners since it sounds right like "Hay!" To hail someone in that manner might get the attention of one of these bad boys (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=9133&catid=newimages).;)
:-? You know, you fool with the bull:mad:, you just might get the horn!:D