The hell and horror of cow attacks: ‘I told my husband to leave me to die’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/12/the-hell-and-horror-of-cow-attacks-i-told-my-husband-to-leave-me-to-die

Posted by masterblaster0

42 Comments

  1. “If cows run towards you, don’t try and confront them: get yourself to a safe place.”

    Nah mate, fuck them up. You can take a herd of cows.

  2. You know, I’m not entirely sure we ever properly domesticated half the animals we keep as livestock. We kinda just put some tasty food out for them and they played along.

    You ever look in a cow’s eyes? Murder and bloodshed I tell you, murder and bloodshed.

  3. It boggles my mind how unaware people are of the dangers. A heard spends most of it’s time in a field in front of my house. A right of way passes through the field and is popular with dog walkers. The amount of people who seem more than happy to try and split a herd with young calves in two as they walk their dogs off the lead down a path is shocking.

  4. gentle_gardener on

    I was always told that if cows are charging you you should pull your coat/jumper off and hold it up as high as you can in as large a shape as you can to frighten them away. Dunno if it works, never had to try it, thank goodness

  5. IsWasMaybeAMefi on

    Years ago, I walked two of my previous dogs across a field. There was at least 300 yards between the public footpath and the cows.

    They were far away ….

    One of my then dogs was a Great Dane.

    Cows see what they thought was a lone calf and they came thundering at us. Let the dogs off lead, ran, made it to safety. Never crossed that field again.

    Found another walk which had cows in a fenced field and when they saw him, they ran toward.

    I’ve dealt with horses running at us – I stand still face them, arms and legs spread and the horses stop at a distance.

    Cows? Screw that, not going close.

  6. I got stuck between a calf and its mother on a walk last year. My sister had her dog with her as well, so they got quite agitated. Ended up making myself look big and shouting, which managed to clear a path to the gate which we were fortunately near.

    Reading that article makes me realise that it could have gone another way. I’ve had plenty of times when I’ve had to avoid a field because the cows basically don’t want you there!

  7. tom-goddamn-bombadil on

    Warning for complete anectdata, but as someone who has spent a lot of time around cows I noticed they became more aggressive around twenty years ago. They have always been dangerous because they are big lumbering beasts (my grandfather was killed by an injury off one of his own herd) but I was never chased by a herd until the turn of the millenium. Then one herd near the village I lived in became notorious for it! MIght be talking completely out my arse but I wonder if there’s a breeding problem.

    Edit  Come to think of it they were a different breed than the usual for around these parts. Are certain breeds of cow more aggressive than others? They were a solid brown colour. 

  8. There really should be warnings about the dangers when public footpaths run through a field with cows in. Unfortunately not everyone knows or realises how dangerous they are and assume that if its a public footpath then its safe to walk.

  9. I grew up on a farm, and generally speaking cows are pretty harmless and will normally back off if you make enough noise and motion.

    There is a very large caveat to that, however. If they have a calf and feel you are a threat then they are straight-up murder machines. As a dumb kid, I managed to get myself butted against a wall a few times until my Dad pulled me out of there. Not the best way to learn that lesson, but effective.

  10. Flimsy-Possible4884 on

    I spent my entire childhood sneaking up on cows and jumping on their back was never even hurt, cows are docile as fuck

  11. Betrayedunicorn on

    I was walking across the Mendip hills for a week with a tent and entered a huge field. Halfway through, around the corner came running a huge herd with calves. Absolutely bricked it, dropped my pack and ran. The calves are so inquisitive they ran straight for me and the adults followed.

    It took ages to tactically wait for them to disperse before I snuck in to reclaim my pack. Most anxiety induced field crossing after.

    Not a chance I was messing with those. There were also loads of random goats everywhere in that place that liked to headbutt you. Just loads of aggressive ‘safe’ animals all about.

  12. Farewell-Farewell on

    The Guardian is stating what everyone should know, even with a dramatic twist – “It was just instant, the herd of 20 or 30 cows attacked her, butting her to the ground”.

    Cows and cattle can be dangerous if you allow yourself to be trampled. Best avoid getting trampled. Even experienced farmers know this. It’s same with horses and rhino. They are big and a bit stupid, so treat them with respect.

  13. Sgt_Sillybollocks on

    Farmer here our herd is for the most part a very quiet and friendly lot. We keep the ones that have a good temperament because it’s far easier to manage them if they are friendly.

    They are also very aware of strangers,for example I can walk into a field full of my cows and move around them without them even getting up,but if a stranger was to do this they will startle and either run off or towards them.

    Cows with young calves are unpredictable. They certainly don’t like dogs.

    We have 4 dogs on our farm and they have learned to keep away from the cows when they have young calves.

    They are very maternal animals. I have a pet cow I call Doris. She was raised by hand. If I walk in a field with her in she will come over to me and put her head on my shoulders for a hug( I’ve got photos of anyone needs proof 😂). When she has a young calf though her behaviour completely changes her instinct is to protect her calf so I have to be careful how she is handled for the first few days after calving.
    Even someone with my experience has taken a few wallops from my cows and I can tell you it hurts.

    I know farmers that have been killed by their own herd.

    So my advice would be don’t ente a field with cows in especially if you have a dog.

    If you do find yourself in that situation leave the dog loose to run off. Make yourself big and shout waving your arms about as if your trying to scare them off. Jump up and down be aggressive making noise. This will stop them charging.
    You won’t out run them unless your super fast.

  14. I have to cycle past a herd of cows most days in the warmer months and I always say ‘please don’t poo on me cows’ because their shit is literally everywhere.

  15. DO NOT BRING A DAMN DOG WHERE COWS ARE.

    Cows don’t see us as predators but have a healthy respect for us and almost fear.

    Dogs? Dogs are hardwired into their mentality that they are a threat. Young cattle? Theyll group up in that United front thing you’ll see but might not be brave enough to attack.

    If you are in with cattle and young calves? The mother will instinctly do the same but call for her calf. If you are anywhere nearer her calf than she is (sometimes they leave them to sleep but never too far). Then you are to be handled first by the mum, depends the cow of course but generally she will go into super mum mode. Unlike many domesticated farm animals cows instinct isn’t to run first its to stand their ground.

    Never fuck with bulls. Generally they are chill but if you rattle their herd then you are a threat and their number 1 job is to sort it.

    Just don’t walk your dogs where cattle are full stop. Its a matter of time than luck.

  16. bouncebackability on

    A group of is got caught out earlier this year walking through a field a few hundred yards away from some laying cows. We got half way across and they took interest in us and ran over.

    We all managed to either hotfoot it over the fence we were next to, or went back to the start or end of the field. Then spent the next 30 minutes trying to get everyone back together again while keeping the inquisitive cows occupied enough by us over the fence in the middle. Was a very stressful situation.

    We did nothing to encourage them, and followed all the advice in the article at least.

  17. Seems like she should’ve beefed up her security when walking through the field, but I really don’t think it’s a major issue for people although the guardian will milk the story for all its worth I’m sure.

  18. One_Psychology_ on

    If dog walkers didn’t enter fields with livestock for their dogs to harass, maybe the livestock wouldn’t feel the need to fight back.

  19. I got crowded by a herd of cows once. I told my dog to sit and stay, and walked away. Cows stayed with the dog, and at a suitable distance I called the dog back. Good dog.

  20. Enflamed-Pancake on

    Cows are classic From Soft boss design – you’ll be punished if you dodge too early.

    But in all seriousness, it’s just common sense to not go into fields with cows in them unless you are the farmer with experience in handling them. They are huge, heavy and can run faster than you’d give them credit for. Their behaviour is also unpredictable if there are young calves in the herd.

  21. showmeyournipplesplz on

    Surprised it didn’t get onto it’s hind legs and spray her with milk from their tits

  22. I was in a field of cows near the cliffs around Whitby, I always carry my dog through a field with cows so they don’t chase after him/us – never had a problem before.

    Anyway suddenly they all get interested, not in an aggressive way but more just coming over all curious, we literally get backed up against a barbed wire fence, 10 or so cows in front of us and a 100 foot drop the other side of the fence and actually started being a bit fearful for my life.

    Thankfully at that exact moment the farmer appeared rattling the gate for their food drop off and they all turned back to him. Not sure what would have happened otherwise

  23. I used to walk through a field of cows quite regularly, and they never bothered me… unless I was walking my Rottweiler. Then they’d run from about 100m away right towards us. I’m pretty sure they thought my dog was a baby cow

  24. I have a field behind my house that I take my dog through for a walk. I always check it out first to see if the cows are on it. If they are I go a different way…not messing about with a herd of cows and even more so if they have calf’s as well.

  25. I almost got killed by one in Ireland. Me and my ex were hopping fields, smoking weed, it was getting darker and out phones were dead. We got stuck to the middle field, young calfs on the field behind us had moved too close to the gate and “teenage” bulls/cows middle of the next field.

    We decided it would be safer to try to go around the older cows than pass right in front of the babys with their mums.

    Didnt work like we intended, they got interested and got close, one of them tried to charge on us (maybe just tried to scare but who knows). My ex tried to look as big as possible and im there in the bush, so sure we were gonna die.

    Then out of nowhere my exs dog runs to the field, chases the cows away. Field owner and my exs brother appear and are annoyed that we were bothering their cows.

    And holy fucking shit that was a wake up call, didnt hop any fences after that and decided to smoke our spliffs in a shed instead.

  26. I’m an ecologist and spend a lot of my time walking fields to do species and habitat surveys. We always insist that cattle are moved out of the fields that we are surveying, otherwise we’re not going in. Young heifers, older heifers with calves and bullocks are no joke, the herd mentality can kick in if they get scared and will charge you. I’ve had to jump gates, slide under fences and jump streams in order to get away from aggressive cattle. They are deceptively fast and 100 stone of prime beef can make short work of you in no time.

  27. Hence the joke sign sometimes seen on footpaths:

    If you climb this fence, be confident you can make it to the other side of the field in 10 seconds, because the bull can do it in 11.

  28. My folks used to take us camping in the New Forest and just turn us loose every day.  The ponies were chill with me, but I got warning charges from cows a few times when I walked past them.

    My brother on the other hand, tried to ride a pony and got kicked in the head, the idiot.

  29. Well…they are big animals FFS, even when they are just being curious a bunch of them can still be a hazard.

  30. AssumptionClear2721 on

    What to say to someone nervous about walking through a field of cows:

    “Just remember, they’re more scared of you, than you are of… oh shit, RUN!!!”

  31. I thought they were like horses and would get spooked when I was crossing a right of way through a field a few years ago. Little did old naive me know they’re the most inquisitive little bastards known to man and they all came running over. To say I shit myself would be an understatement they were huge! Luckily I managed to get behind a barbed wire fence and sought an alternative route out in the other field (which only contained 2 cows who were busy eating). Never again.

  32. Only time I have ever seen my dad run is when a heard of cows came rushing at us when I was a kid. I didn’t think he could move that quick. Also made me realise he was not going to even consider the rest of us as he leapt the fence

  33. How did this work in the past?

    Its weird that somehow people today, both farmers and ordinary people are like “wow these animals can kill!”

    How is it something new?