[fiestyredhead331]

I don't have cattle myself but a few around here do and today I woke up to see a neighbours herd of Highlands (bull, 2 cows and 2 bullocks) out on the common grazing.
There is a fence between my ground and the common grazing so not too worried about them coming onto my patch but the issues occur when the cattle don't go far from the access gate onto the grazing as this is also a very popular walk for hillwalkers/tourists etc who then have to decide whether or not to 'run with the bull'....
last summer I saw quite a lot just turn round and go elsewhere and personally I don't blame them, a bull and cows with calves seem to me to be a recipe for potential trouble?
Is there any real reason for concern or am I just being paranoid? I'm not a fan of cattle I admit, I appreciate them (from a distance).
I have a herd of goats who regularly go onto the common grazing in the summer through the day for a munch on the heather but when the cattle are out I tend not to let them go out. Maybe I could advise walkers to gain access to the walk through my croft which usually gets them past the cattle?
Thoughts?....

[landroverroy]

 In fact highland cattle, in spite of their fearsome looking horns, are the most placid of animals. If the calves are more than a few days old they are not normally agressively protective, and the bulls also are very laid back. I would like to think that no one would graze an animal on common land that was in any way unpredictable.
But . . . having said that, you can never fully trust an animal that weighs maybe half a tonne or more, and legally, a bull on common land should be running with more than 2 cows. (I forget the minimum number)
I would be pretty sure you're not in any danger, but if you're not comfortable with them then just keep your distance and they'll just ignore you.

[fiestyredhead331]

oh don't worry I do, but I do know this bull is not the friendliest, the calves are probably around 3 months old so a decent size themselves.
I was out just now and they seem to have dandered off up the hill 

[Old Shep]

A few years back we holidayed in Plockton , OH and my son took the mickey out of me for giving the free ranging Highlands a wide berth.  A week after our return it was on the news that a tourist was killed by one of the highlands :-( Very sad.  As you say you can never trust entirely, especially if they are not your own.

[Porterlauren]

It's common GRAZING, the walkers etc are exercising a privilege to go and have a wander up there. . . . . . it's a sad day when we can't put stock out on common grazing land because it might stop joe public enjoying their access to it.

The countryside is rapidly becoming a playground for the rich or for folk from the city. Lets not try to hasten the demise of the true countryside any more than it already is shall we?

[Old Shep]

The majority of people waking in the countryside are neither rich nor from a city.  Even if they were, they do not deserve to be killed by a highland bull!  If its a common, other local people with grazing animals can wander through it too!  Hopefully they are all peaceful and quiet, but I personally would give them a wide berth.

[fiestyredhead331]

no-one suggested you couldn't put stock on the grazings Porterlauren!

I for one won't go on the grazing if the bull is on the loose and thats my choice. at the very least the owners of the cattle should have signs put up at the gate warning walkers

[Porterlauren]

Sorry, maybe got a bit ott haha.

I wasn't suggesting that most walkers were rich or from the city. Although many are the latter. Just that in many places the everyday activities and uses of the countryside as an economic environment come under threat from those looking to use it as an area of pleasure. . . . I applaud people for getting out walking etc, but you've just got to accept that its a privilege we enjoy as a passtime. The cows (in many cases) are someones day to day work. . . . .

I do defiantly agree that signs should be up. But I reckon the bull has just as much right as the walkers. . . . probably more.

[SallyintNorth]

A beef bull isn't happy on his own, he is happiest with cows who need his services   He is not generally dangerous when he's with cows, provided everyone behaves sensibly.

What would you have the cattle farmer do?  Keep the bull locked up indoors all year?

I agree very much with PL's sentiments.  Farming as we do in a World Heritage corridor, with a visitor attraction within ground that we farm, it is hard sometimes to think that the public think we are there for any purpose other than to augment their countryside experience.  Sigh.

[fiestyredhead331]

The cattle aren't kept indoors at all, they have access to a shed on their croft, like most of us crofters they both work other jobs.
Unfortunately in an area that relies heavily on tourism we have to, to an extent, ensure people's safety. I remember when the man in Plockton was killed by the highland cow 

[Cosmore]

I think the biggest problem is the modern 'general publics' disassociation from animals and livestock and an apparent lack of common sense, irrespective of wether or not they are rich and or city dwellers. In the past there have always been walkers/ hikers or whatever you call them, in somewhat limited numbers, most used to keep to what was called the 'country code', i.e. leave all gates as you found them, don't deviate from the legal footpath, don't interfere with, feed or approach livestock, don't leave any litter, keep dogs on leads etc., etc.
However, todays 'freedom to roamers' are a different bunch, seemingly mostly bereft of common sense, self preservation and lacking in true knowledge of the farming business, countryside courtesies and the behaviour of livestock. This is why there are tragedies every year, both for the farmer losing his sheep to dog attacks, cattle being injured or poisoned by litter, gates left open or damaged etc., and the public suffering injuries or death. The vaunted 'freedom to roam' act without a very concerted public education programme I feel is responsible, the few public TV offerings have had little effect. I have absolutely nothing against anyone enjoying the countryside responsibly, indeed it is a good thing and healthy exercise and perhaps helps to educate people that is where their food originates from by dint of the hard work of the farmers and those chops, steaks and chickens are not born in a plastic bag in the supermarket!

[SallyintNorth]

Well put, Cosmore 

Yes, of course, feisty, any livestock where walkers are entitled to be should be safe around humans who behave sensibly.  It's that last three words which are the problem - so many people have no idea what constitutes sensible behaviour around livestock.

I'm a little tetchy on this subject because of the land that we farm and the number of tourists we get.  We go to great lengths to have an amenable bull, and to only ever have very quiet beasts on the fields which take the bulk of the tourists, and yet we may still be asked to not put youngstock in the one field, because they congregate around the gate, which "frightens people and makes them reticent to go into the field."  Can't win.  We handle these animals and get them used to dogs so they are friendly and tame, then the very fact that they come to the gate because they are tame and like people puts people off.  If we don't tame them or habituate them to dogs... well, we all know where that would end. 

I think the site owners had better fence a walkers' corridor.  But they'll say they haven't any money to do that... so then we'll remove the cattle and have to use chemicals to control weeds (can't use a topper where there are archeological remains!) and use more wormer for the sheep because we can't rotate the grazing...

Frankly it would be better if this ground were farmed by someone who had a tourist-related business and could make money out of all these folks.  That's just not us, though.

[shygirl]

the man in Plockton was killed by the highland cow 

so was it a cow or a bull?

[fiestyredhead331]

cow with calf if i remember rightly
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3192367.stm

[harmony]

It's sad for everyone when there is a cattle attack. We ride through cows and followers with a bull daily through the summer and in over 20 years have only once had a problem when the whole herd got the impression I wanted them to go in front of me and jammed up the gate. There is probably towards 30 adult cows but they are generally fine.


The worst time is when the young cattle go out after winter full of beans and curious about everything.


These days I believe farmers are advised to put up signs warning people there may be cattle on a public right of way. I think there was a recent court case when a severely injured walker said she would have avoided a route had she known cows were on it.


At the end of the day you are safer in the countryside  than you were driving to get to it! And here more people fall off the fells than are injured by cattle.