Report number: 818
Date of incident: 11/9/2023
Site of incident: near Tintagel, Cornwall
We were following a footpath through farmland and went over a stile and the next footpath was directly ahead following the hedge line. Unfortunately, right at the other end of the field, directly in front of the stile was the herd of cows.
So as not to spook them by walking directly towards them, we tried to go around. Unfortunately, these cows seemed territorial and were undecided as to whether they were going to allow us through or not.
They started coming towards us which did not seem like curiosity or to see if we had food. There was no where to go and my 14 year old was really scared. I tried talking calmly to them – but it made no difference. They looked like they were on the verge of charging.
In the end I made myself as big as possible with my arm out wide and clapped shouting “Back”. This caught them off guard and we managed to squeeze around them and over the stile. They quickly pursued us to the stile but luckily we were safely over. We had to re-route for the way home.
We weren’t injured, just badly frightened.
Killer Cows 
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