About

Hi.
I found this site after a friend’s encounter on the South Downs Way while walking alone – and with no dog – when she ended up being cornered by cows. I can’t comment on her experience as I wasn’t there, but at the time I was somewhat sceptical as she’s a bit of a worrier, and I had never had a similar experience.
That is until recently!
Firstly, I’m what I would consider an ‘Outdoorsy’ type. My dad grew up on a dairy farm and while growing up we were always out fishing in fields full of cows on his old patch, or camping up on our friend’s dairy farm – now cattle-trader – in the Yorkshire Dales. Cows would come up and lick us, stand on our fishing gear, and generally just nose around without bothering us. I recall one dark morning on the river bank my Dad tapping one on the nose when a cow trampled his landing net as the herd gathered behind us with only the river to escape. It wasn’t a drama and they weren’t threatening at all.
We helped out on the farm in the Dales many times. We knew to be wary of bulls, and not to get close to a cow and calf and certainly not between them, and the worst that ever happened to me was slipping over in a slurry pit when mucking out the milking shed.
I’ve lived in villages for decades, and spend most spring, summer and autumn evenings out on my mountain bike locally, and walking at weekends. I’ve crossed the same fields with the same herds near where I now live over the last 16 years countless times, I get to know where they might be and which direction they wander in and which gates and fields they move through (I can’t always see them on entering as fields often connect through open gates in hedgerows or are hidden by woods).
The South Downs Way passes through many a field used for cattle and most of the time they’re so used to people they don’t take any notice if you don’t have a dog, which I don’t, nor do my walking friends.
The Dales are crossed by many open-sided roads through grazing pastures, one of my favourites often as highland cattle ambling along the roads, handsome beasts that don’t seem at all bothered despite their fearsome appearance.
One field I cross has a herd of Friesians and they seem quite docile, even if I’ve gone through a gate to find them in front of me in the adjoining field it’s never been an issue, they’ve never looked threatened or defensive. Another field the same although a different breed.
However, in the last few years I’ve now had 3 close local encounters where I’ve been charged at, the first was in a large field where I entered alone and didn’t spot the herd at the far end until they started charging as one from the opposite corner. They were all young Aberdeen Angus (I think), around 20-30 of them, started running from a long way off and they didn’t slow down as they got closer, so I had to jump over a barbed-wire fence that luckily the path ran alongside to escape as I was too far from the gate.
Recently I had almost the same experience in another field on another farm, this time a smaller field, and I had less time to react as they were obscured initially by trees and were upon me in seconds, again young black cattle so I assume the same breed, around the same number, and I think heifers again, although I wasn’t looking underneath them that closely as I was somewhat pre-occupied!. They were a few feet behind as I got through the turnstile-gate.
And more recently still, on my usual route, I got to a gate where there is often a herd of cream and brown and grey cattle of all sizes, with a bull amongst them, and saw them coming down through the trees from the larger upper field, which is where I usually see them. I could see the calves with them which were all quite a size now, but noticed one was frisky and still trying to suckle, so I waited. I always wait until they’re well clear of the path and where I can pass where I’m not going between them or closing them in, and I did the same here, waiting maybe 15 minutes until they were all headed off to the right, so I started out taking a long arc around to the left, since taking the path which cuts across the centre might appear to them as if I was approaching more directly. I got maybe 50 yards when I saw they’d all started to turn towards me, still munching though, but then one started heading toward me picking up speed until it was full-on running. I headed back to the gate at right angles from the herd but it just ran faster toward me, so I went flat-out too!. It’s amazing how focused your mind is at such times, I can clearly recall seeing the head down, muscles rippling, while I was thinking that ‘cows aren’t supposed to be good and running down hills because of their shorter front legs’ while this thing got very close indeed, and I just reached the gate and turned and shouted to give me time to get through the style, at which point it was maybe 6 feet away, and by the time it was closed there were more of them behind it.
It might have been inquisitive and playful for all I know, but I know if I’d stumbled or fallen it would have been on me in a second at that speed, and those behind it, and what then….

So that brings me back here again.
I think there is a seemingly growing problem here and it’s not just about livestock being threatened by dogs. I no longer feel I ever want to step foot in a field of cattle again. I understand that farmers have a right to keep cattle on their land and we enjoy the right to pass over it, and I’m very grateful that we do, but also feel that it shouldn’t be inherently dangerous for us to do so. Sometimes it’s not easy to re-route around a field, it might be miles and take a long time, it might be too late in the daylight to take a lengthy re-route, etc. etc., and there will always be those less-experienced who may not understand the risks. And despite me having got away with it three times with nothing but a scratch here and there or a racing heartbeat and a tale to tell, it really could have been different.

So while I do think the site name ‘killercows’ is a little inflammatory, people have been killed, and it raises the profile of the real danger that exists, which I’m now telling other people to look out for.

What needs to be done? I don’t know…. a closer look at the regulations covering which breeds and gender mixes and breeding statuses are allowed in fields crossed by public paths? I did read up on some but it’s not entirely clear to me exactly what it means in real plain English terms and how I would know if these were being adhered to as I’m no expert… I do really feel for farmers trying to make a living, but at the same time when is a notifiable ‘hazard’ warning sign sufficient for a potentially very dangerous situation? I’d rather see a footpath closed than find myself in that scenario again, although that’s not ideal clearly.

I do hope the situation can improve by rambling/walking/outdoor groups and farmer representative discussions exploring all options as personally I think things are worsening for some reason.

All I can say in the meantime is be aware of the potential danger despite appearances, most definitely think how you’re going to pose the least threat, and work out how you might escape if needs be before entering, and if in doubt don’t enter!

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