Trip Report Curious Cows and Camping...

[Barney Rubble]

Hi All,

Thought I'd share my latest blog post. Things went a bit awry on this camp. I was initially due to camp down on the north kent marshes on the Thames foreshore. But, alas, my plans were scuppered by a horny Bull! I beat a hasty retreat back to my woodland permission and ended up having a pleasant camp in the woods, cooking bannock and pizza calzone and also trying my hand at a one match fire.

Please feel free to check out the full report on my blog (link below) where I spend a lot of time making fun of my own misfortune. I've also linked a few videos into the blog post which show off some of my cookery and fire lighting skills (or lack thereof). As always, I welcome your thoughts - this is not a marketing tool by the way, I've no advertising on my blog and no brand affiliations.

https://barneysbimbles.blogspot.com/2019/07/june-2019-curious-cows-and-camping.html

 

[Woody girl]

Yes cows can be scary! You don't want several tonns of beef and sharp hooves running you over. People have been trampled to death before now. Dogs are often victims of cows stampedes especially if there are calves around in the field. You were brave to go for it. I bet your heart was doing a triple beat! Glad you are safe.

 

[Robson Valley]

I hope it was peace and quiet, I could use a BIG dose of that right about now.
Camping in an active pasture can come to grief.
(As I waited for the bull to finish trying to lick the paint off the bonnet of my car.)

 

[Tengu]

Cows are notoriously curious beasts and may well run in order to witness the latest fashionable spectacle.

But they are harmless unless there is a bull around or calves.

What was a bull doing on a field in which there presumably is a public footpath?

 

[GuestD]

Yes cows can be scary! You don't want several tonns of beef and sharp hooves running you over. People have been trampled to death before now. Dogs are often victims of cows stampedes especially if there are calves around in the field. You were brave to go for it. I bet your heart was doing a triple beat! Glad you are safe.

If cows run at you, stand your ground, and they'll take fright. Run, and they'll keep running at you, they sense your fear. In general they are timid. A bulls a different matter, best to keep away.

 

[Keith_Beef]

If cows run at you, stand your ground, and they'll take fright. Run, and they'll keep running at you, they sense your fear. In general they are timid. A bulls a different matter, best to keep away.

They don't run at you, they run with you.

I used to regularly take a shortcut through a field full of dairy cows. They used to follow me at a safe distance as I walked.

One day, with a "friend of a friend" who happened to turn up where I was living just as I was about to go out somewhere, I said "come along, I'm on my way down towards Malin Bridge", and off we set.

We got to the field full of cows, after they'd been milked and turned out again.

The other kid was a bit behind me, not being used to climbing a stile in his tight jeans (this was the late '80s).

I called back "try to keep up", and I set off running... and sure enough the cows followed at a swift trot.

 

[GuestD]

They don't run at you, they run with you.

They will run at you when you're running away from them, and trample you, especially if you have a dog, dairy cattle tend to be a bit less feral, because of their daily human contact. Castrated bulls, steers/stots, whatever your local reference, can be particularly boisterous, and will kick out viciously with their hind legs, a good cattle dog will know this, and keep well clear.

 

[Barney Rubble]

What was a bull doing on a field in which there presumably is a public footpath?

I thought that as well because there was a footpath running beside the river and the full length of the field. Usually you get warning signs about a bull in the field but not this time. The path is seldom used though, hence the reason I like to camp down there!

Having read all the comments here, I'm happy that I made the right choice!! Thanks all for reading

 

[Robson Valley]

I think that we could use steel T-posts and 2" stucco wire mesh to create an "exclosure" to camp in.

 

[Nomad64]

Thank you for posting - really good to have reports from people getting out and doing stuff!

Here is some bumf from the ramblers and others on the dangers of cattle in U.K. and Ireland.

https://www.ramblers.org.uk/advice/...d-wales/animals-and-rights-of-way.aspx#cattle

https://www.thatsfarming.com/news/farmers-alert-dangers-bulls

https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/walks/how-dangerous-are-cows-to-walkers/

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/taking-care-around-cows

Without wanting to kickoff the usual tedious debates about the respective merits of wildcamping rules in different countries, the ferocity of local wildlife or the ordnance to carry to defend yourself, the fact remains that your chosen campsite was presumably on private land used for agriculture and without permission of the owner.

I get pee’d off when land owners put up signs warning of bulls, dogs etc to deter people using public rights of way but on the other hand, IMHO camping in a farmer’s field without permission is potentially asking for trouble and not just from the livestock. There is a fair bit of tension around livestock at the moment - theft is becoming a real issue in under-policed rural areas - this is a photo from a FB group I am a member of showing the remains of a flock of sheep killed and butchered in a field over the weekend.



In some areas the farming community is on a state of high alert and lights in a field after dark could result in an over reaction from a frightened farmer expecting to find a gang of villains slaughtering his flock/herd etc. not a mild mannered camper trying to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Personally, I limit my wild camping to areas on the high fells above the fence line where it is generally accepted even if not strictly legal or where I have permission - I appreciate that this is not an easy option in the south east.

Apologies for sounding a bit preachy but be careful out there.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Thank you for posting - really good to have reports from people getting out and doing stuff!

Without wanting to kickoff the usual tedious debates about the respective merits of wildcamping rules in different countries, the ferocity of local wildlife or the ordnance to carry to defend yourself, the fact remains that your chosen campsite was presumably on private land used for agriculture and without permission of the owner.

I get pee’d off when land owners put up signs warning of bulls, dogs etc to deter people using public rights of way but on the other hand, IMHO camping in a farmer’s field without permission is potentially asking for trouble and not just from the livestock. There is a fair bit of tension around livestock at the moment - theft is becoming a real issue in under-policed rural areas - this is a photo from a FB group I am a member of showing the remains of a flock of sheep killed and butchered in a field over the weekend.

In some areas the farming community is on a state of high alert and lights in a field after dark could result in an over reaction from a frightened farmer expecting to find a gang of villains slaughtering his flock/herd etc. not a mild mannered camper trying to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Personally, I limit my wild camping to areas on the high fells above the fence line where it is generally accepted even if not strictly legal or where I have permission - I appreciate that this is not an easy option in the south east.

Apologies for sounding a bit preachy but be careful out there.

You make some good points, the vast majority of my camps are in my woodland permission, but it's nice to venture out from time to time (I'm deeply envious of the folk that live so close to Dartmoor, Lake District et a). The particular area that I was planning to camp on was just outside of a nature reserve and beside a pubic footpath which follows the Thames Estuary and eventually joins up with the Saxon Shore Way (long distance trail). This area is affectionately referred to as Dickens country because he set the opening scenes of Great Expectations on this land. There's a nice beach beside the path which I have camped on several times before without any issue or interruption from livestock. And I have camped on the grass bank on the other side of the path when I needed to shelter from the wind. Stupid though it sounds, this is about as remote as you can get in north Kent as I was almost two miles away from the nearest dwelling.

Hopefully the piccy below (from a previous camp) shows how the footpath itself and surrounding area is separated from the main agricultural fields/marsh by a waterway. The sheep/cattle are usually grazing in those fields and thus have never caused a problem before.





I'll make a tentative return in the Autumn and see if I can sneak another camp in.

 

[Tengu]

But cows arent dangerous.

Thats townie think.

You dont aggravate them, that is for sure, and they can display curiosity by enthusiatic running, but they are not dangerous.

I wouldnt camp in with them as they could do a lot of damage in being curious. Cows are no respecters of tents.

If some townie doesnt like cows then they should go elsewhere; they are only doing their job, turning grass into human suitable foods.

(A bull on a public footpath is legally problematic though, and has been a long time.)

 

[Nomad64]

But cows arent dangerous

Famous last words!

https://www.independent.co.uk/envir...d-dangerous-britains-killer-cows-1776775.html

https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/walks/how-dangerous-are-cows-to-walkers/

https://www.nfuonline.com/cross-sec...ivestock-and-rights-of-way-reducing-the-risk/

http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/livestock.htm#what-risks