DetectingWales.com

There was a discussion on here a couple of weeks ago about the
danger of metal detecting near cows. what happened to me tonight I swear is absolutely true.
                                     I went out for an hour tonight  on my local permission,
in the first field there were only two cows , so I kept a close eye on them and started detecting.
moved onto the second field which was empty, after about a  1/4 of an hour some cows had entered the field behind me from somewhere and started heading towards me cutting off my way
out of the field. so I made a way through a hedge into a third field, only to be met by
more pregnant cows and some with calves. I quickly edged my way across the field and on reaching the other side unoticed or so I thought, I decided to make my way slowly along a fence
hoping that once i got to the top I could exit by a gate. Then all hell broke loose about 5 or 6
cows formed a line and started slowly towards me then speeded up, I started to run and so did they. The fence in question was the square wire type with a single strand of wire about six inches above.
                                    Picture a 51 year old handsome man {ok that parts not true I'm nearly 52 }
with a spade in one hand , a metal detector attached to me by a bungee cord, diving over that
fence. I cleared it. I looked around and I swear those cows were laughing at me.The only way back to the van was to walk in an old dried up canal which was full of leaves and mud,and
brambles, along the length of the field watched closely by the cows who followed me all the way,
albeit on the other side of the fence. Was I glad to get home .
 BEWARE COWS ARE DANGEROUS. the next time I want to see one is in a burger

Had more or less the same experience the other week - a group of cows ran from me, re-grouped with more cows and charged at me! Sounds like you had a lucky escape Dryland.  :D

lucky escape, my physiotherapist would have been proud of me lol

My husband and I were out in the snow about 20 years ago rabbiting and it was just about dusk. We were walking in single file and I was at the back. Uknown to me a cow and calf had followed me on the other side of the fence and in the snow I didn't hear them sneaking up. Next thing , a very loud "moooo" in my ear! I jumped and fell into a drainage ditch - my husband was laughing so much he couldn't get me out!

Much respect to cows -ninjas in disguise!! ;D

One thing I learned was that they don't like the tones  from the detector. It was a hot day and my ears were red hot from the phones so I decided to take them off and un-plug them and went on my way. I soon became aware of a ruckus in the next field. There must have been about 50 + youngsters in there. Some had been following me along the hedge and at the sound off the detector they went ape. They had just been interested before and quite calm. Behaviour was soon picked up by the others and there was mayhem, youngsters running wildly in all directions and boy can they run.
I was never so glad to be the other side of a hedge.

Val 

Those of ewe who know Corwen will no doubt have passed Lord Newboroughs place? he now keeps some bison......

I had permission to collect daphnia (water fleas) from a pond in One of the fields I had no problem with cows the herds got rotated......... BUT I didn't know the Black herd was a load of young Aberdeen angus were blooming bulls!  :o :o :o :o I had a bucket of pondwater full of daphnia in One hand a net in the other and I looked up to find them too close to me........ the cows usually just looked at you then dismissed you but these things were stood abreast and were moving towards me with malicious intent...... I took off...... water sloshing over me........ the sound of hoofbeats thundering through my heart....... I made the fence a few feet ahead of the damn things  :o I have emphysema and the A5 was on the other side of the fence............ when I next went to the estate managers office I told him the story much to his amusement and he then told me they are "just inquisitive" and as I had a bucket with me they thought they were getting a treat...... they did! watching me legging it puffing and panting 200 yards in 1.5 seconds well nearly.

I had great delight when they opened the farm shop, they were selling pure Aberdeen Angus burgers cooked and frozen  ;D I bought a cooked One and it was so nice I bought a stack for the freezer.......
apart from being probably the best burger I have ever had I thought that revenge is not always a dish served cold!  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Can't beat a good chuckle, especially at someone else expense.  It was the bucket of water that did it for me. ;D

Val

Had a close encounter with some me self last year dryland, but as these couldn't get at me because I whipped over a fence and detected in another field for a few hours I thought bad luck suckers ;D ;D, only to find they decided to take it out on my 4x4 I stupidly parked in an adjoining field along a hedge row :( :( I tell you what its not just there horns that done the damage but those bloody ear tags we all dig up, they used it as a rubbing post :'( :'(

OUCH ! lol  ;D ;D

I don't trust the buggers at all  >:( pretending to be stupid then creeping up behind you in gangs  :-*

I've had a couple of close calls recently with horned sheep, think sheep with horns and a very bad attitude. I had one the other night stare at me for ages then come over for a closer look, I pointed my shovel at him and shouted bugger off only to be confronted with head down and a trot in my direction  :-\ luckily I had some rocks to climb up but it got the old ticker racing. Thing is I daren't lay a finger on the things as they are bred for showing and are worth around £500 quid a head. I'll be glad when it gets colder and they get stuck in the shed for the winter.

I thought sheep were supposed to be calm and friendly!!! What have you been doing Will to make them all angry ;D ;D ;D is the clue in the start, a field of horny sheep  ;D ;D ;D

couldn't resist that one.

What have I been doing to the sheep to make them angry?

You disgust me!  ;) ;D

Rams are the ones to watch out for. If you see a sheep with a harness on then keep an eye on it, it's male not female. If it see's you as a threat it will have a go at you.
My neighbour, when we lived in Shropshire, had one who took a dislike to the Mrs. and made a bee line for her every time she went in the field. It knocked her flying a few times before they got rid of it.
Ewes can be protective as well. Watch out for head down, snorting and stamping of feet.  If the Ba-Ram-Ewe talk doesn't work then watch out, your trespassing.

Val

They can shift as well when they want to! No way I could outrun one if I had to leg it some distance.  :o

I've been warned that the next couple of months is breeding season so they will be  extra agitated so I'm keeping well away from them.

Hmmm!

Sheep always run away from me!.........................


Must be my aftershave  ::)

99.5% of sheep do run away.  It's the 0.5% you've got to watch out for. You must have been lucky so far. ;)

Val

Normal sheep do, these are sheep with a bad attitude, they're tooled up with a set of horns and they're not afraid to use them  :D

This has a familiar ring to it Celticspikey. I parked my car in a similar fashion. As I headed along a hedgerow to get to the gate in to the next field I passed where my car was on the other side. I could hear a metallic noise coming from where it was. When I got to the gate I found that my car was surrounded by a load of heifers. I thought If I startle them they would bolt and damage the car badly so I decided to come back a bit later. When I returned they had scarpered but I was aghast at the state of my car. One wing mirror was dangling by the cable, another was also damaged and there was a dent in one wing. On top of this all the windows and paintwork was smeared with thick saliva. The embarrassment driving home through Dorchester town centre and getting strange looks when I was stopped at traffic lights was the worse of it!!! The saliva, or their tongues badly marked the paintwork. I was trying to sell it at the time and had to drop the price. It also took me weeks to live down the embarrassment at work. :) :) ;D ;D

 :D :D :D :D :D :D I shouldn't laugh but you've painted such a good picture. I've had them just rum themselves against the car and their fur with mud on is as good as any sandpaper :(

The reason that heifers and bullocks will chase you is because you give them something to chase ie run away, if you raise your arms and run at them they won't hang about, they'll be off smartish.

Well I'm not about to test your theory Geoff. I'm not quite that desperate yet. Some of the farmers are doing a 3rd cut so I just have to be patient a bit longer and then I can have a field all to myself. I much prefer it that way. ;)

Val

Chef

With Val on this, I survived one stampede and dont want to try again! the only exercise I need is as follows:

raising my eyebrows
pushing my luck
jumping to conclusions
jogging my memory
wiping a runny nose
using my chuckle muscles
raising my blood pressure
straining my eyes
etc

I've had a similar experience the local permission i have has 280 diary cows, one day i was detecting a field that the cows were returning to (totally unaware of this) I was dead centre of the field when i heard some heavy foot prints and as i lifted my head there they were entering through the gate! They stopped and stared for a second and then decided to come closer, slowly at first then like you said getting quicker! They must have obviously felt good and energtic about loosing a couple of pounds of milk and started stampeeding towatds me! My run turned into a sprint so fast i hardly noticed the erect electric cow fence in the middle of the field to say the voltage on it was more than what i was expecting was an understatment. But i was safe! I did manage to discover if you touch an electric fence while holding your detector it makes it go off haha

Things we do for fun!

Yes, I agree Chef - when ever I have to walk through a field of cows I don't run - I'll turn around and hold my detector out horizontally to make myself look bigger and then they usually go awa. I don't usually get worried about them, except when they are being a bit frisky with each other - even the bulls are ok as long as they got a few cows to keep them company.

I remember when I was younger and my parents had a roman-dig (at the farm I detect at) we would frequently come back to find the cows had tried to lick the salt off the car windows.

It was always sheep with lambs that we were more wary of - they could be quite aggresive when they wanted to be.

YIPEE YI OHHHHHHH,   WHEN ALL AT ONCE A MIGHTY HERD OF RED EYED COWS SHE SAW......................Yes I tested all of the above advice this afternoon. And I'm still alive but minus one life.
Head down, digging a tump, in my own little world of hope and then I heard them. I looked up and saw 'a mighty herd' running strait at me. 35 young Heifers, fresh out of the weaning shed. Wont repeat what I said but it wasn't lady-like and then I was gone, trying to remember all the above advice as I went. DONT RUN, MAKE YOURSELF LOOK BIG, DONT PANIC.
Needles to say they ran much quicker than I could walk backwards with arms outstretched, spade in one hand and detector in the other (had to keep an eye on them) and I ended up in the middle of them. Luckily the Farmer appeared minuets later with a bag of feed in hand and I put a brave face on it and pretended to usher them towards him. ::)
Must admit that not one of them actually touched me. Spoke to the Farmer over their heads and he volunteered to shut the gate if I was going. Did he really think I might stay. :o That's 6 fields I wont go in for a few weeks. They're interconnected and gates all open. Oh well, on to the next. :'(

Val

Scary stuff Val....... just reading the daily mail on line, a 60 year old dog walker in Cambridgeshire got trampled yesterday he is now seriously ill in hospital :-\

Ha Ha Val that brought tears to my eyes

There's not a cow been born that bothers The Chef!

rofl .. that would make a great caption competition!

My reply to the caption would be........................Gawd, they don't know what I am since that Vet had his way with me.

They look like Bullocks to me. ::)

Val

Has Geoff got an invisible detector ;D

That's better

He was only proving his point by walking through them.  ;)

Val

After 37 years I don't need a detector, I use the "Force".


Strangely my finds rate has plummeted since I started this method which could explain why Jedi's are always seen wearing those old blankets ummm? think I might buy another detector :-\

 ;D ;D ;D