Well perhaps I will laugh about this one day, but I have only just stopped crying and I am still shaking.
I had only got about 1.5 km when I saw the cows. That's odd I thought, they don't cross the road here usually. I backed away slowly, expecting to see the farmer tail walking...err no!.There were about 20 of them and they disappeared down a road. Leaving these 2!
I backed away as far as I could and the big fella seemed to spot me, and started a sort of slow trot towards me, drool dripping from him.
I'm not going to lie, the air was blue, and I was terrified. Every turn I took he and the cow headed towards me. This went on for what felt like forever!
I managed to get behind a huge wrapped hay bale, he lost interest for a few minutes and tried to mount the cow, okay I'm happy with that...
So I hurled myself over a gate into a field and stood there sobbing whilst I called the police. Now I respect our police force, my dad was a police man, but how is it helpful when the man on the phone tells you the post code you can clearly see on the road sign you can clearly read doesn't match their information?. And how is my date of birth going to get me out of this field?
Several minutes later a chap on a quad bike arrived, he stayed there whilst I climbed back onto the road and told me they were not his, but they had broken down the fence and let his bull out."That's who I was looking for, and oh, have I seen him" he asked, grinning.
As I was still trying not to cry I told him that I couldn't yet see the humour in this, but maybe one day!.
Oh I know he said, they are dangerous when they are like this, he's quite frisky, that big un!!!!
I left him with them.
To my relief as I was walking home I saw the police incident van and pointed them in the right direction.
I got the photo as I was hiding in the field, no idea why I took it really but I have lived to tell the tale.
Run abandoned, there's always tomorrow.
Have a great day and stay safe 😶
Written by
Jell6
Graduate
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Oh you poor thing.!! I was brought up, and still live, in the country but cows and even bullocks are bad enough... a rampant bull is another kettle of fish. I’d have cried too. They are so big and those horns!!!
I remember when I was small walking across my grandads field with him. He had a bucket of feed for his poultry and I was eating an apple ( I was about 6/7). And suddenly I was attacked by a rooster!!! I know it’s not the same but it was scary as hell. He came at me spurs first and my grandad just swung the bucket round and belted him away from me. I think he was probably excited by the food bucket and then decided to go after my Apple. As a small child he was about half to 2/3 my size and scary enough!!! Still not ever keen on roosters to this day.
And we got pushed up into a hedge when we came across a herd of cows in their way home for milking once. It was only lack of space but they just filled the lane and we ( mum and I) had to climb into the hedge to avoid being trampled. We stayed there clinging to each other till they passed, the farmers lad just strolling past and nodding to us as we clung to each other ☹️😳
My dad's cousins are cattle farmers and I spent a lot of time on their farm when I was younger. I think having the awareness of the danger just made this morning worse. Staring at a tonne of bull, just a few metres away, and not knowing where to go was terrifying.
Holy mackerel Jell I can totally see your point. Cows are unpredictable creatures at the best of times - 90% harmless, 10% lethal - but that bull is mahoosive and not to be messed with. Thank goodness for the hay bale and the cow distracting him. 🐄
I’m glad you’re ok and hopefully they’re now home.
OMG! I have an absolute morbid fear of cows, they terrify me. Not sure what started it all but they completely freak me out. I have read so many stories of people being crushed to death by them, and then it happened to the wife of somebody I worked with. There is a small herd of 4 big woolly haired cattle that are free to roam in a national trust property where I live during the summer, and I will not visit knowing they are there. My husband thinks I am completely irrational and he jokes about it with my son but the fear is real. I don’t laugh about his fear of snakes, why is my fear of cows so funny.?
I would still be behind the bale of hay and doubt I would be laughing about it in years to come, it’s the stuff of nightmares for me 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
Oh no that’s a really scary experience. Poor you. Sounds like you were completely sensible and did the right things to protect yourself and others. Well done. Good thinking. I’m a city dweller but have spent lots of time in the country walking etc and have had a few incidents with cattle over the years. The can be very intimidating and have to be treated with care. Especially frisky bulls.
Be very gentle with yourself today you’ve had a bit of a shock. But do remember you did well dealing with it which makes you a pretty resourceful runner. 👍💪👏😀
It's not all that funny if a bull escapes from a field and terrifies people like happened to jell6.
There was a incident about 30 years ago when several cows escaped from a field near Falkirk, Scotland and a train hit the cows, the train was derailed and there several fatalities, that farmer should be prosecuted on letting those cows that jell6 saw this morning.
I've noticed farmers worldwide are damn careless with their livestock. I have a couple of acres of land in the UK and the neighbouring farms make only a desultory effort to make their own pastures stockproof. Most of the hedgerows (which once upon a time would have been cow- and bull-proof) were torn up decades ago and the fences intended to replace them are either badly-maintained or don't exist. Every so often, the cows/sheep/bullocks get bored and just wander off, sometimes into the roads, or onto other people's property.
I also have land in a less salubrious part of the world, where goats, pigs, chickens etc are just left to roam wild, leaving destruction in their wake. The upshot is that nobody can cultivate anything without first building a ginormous fence, because they know their crops will just be rooted up or eaten at some point by the neighbour's animals.
But yeah. Cows can be dangerous. Anything that big and mobile can be dangerous. Not surprised Jell6 was shook up.
😱🐄🐂 what a scary experience... I really hope you can laugh about it when you have got over the shock. Luckily not many 🐄 where I live but when I’m out walking or hiking I avoid them like the plague.
If it wasn’t so serious I’d say you were talking a load of bull 🤣😱( is it too soon for a joke ?)
Be kind to yourself today, the run will be waiting tomorrow and hopefully without any dramas
Eek! I never trust cows!🐄🐂😱 What a horrible experience Jell6 - so glad you are now ok. Look after yourself today and here's to a more peaceful next run! 🤞🙂
Too I can’t stand running around people as I just get paranoid at how slow I’m going and how bad I look lol so I’m usually a very early morning runner, but I think that prob makes me stupid as it’s the prime time to get mugged or something haha x but hopefully not by any livestock!
I always like to be out before 07.30, it used to be earlier (05.30), there's something very *relaxing about running when the world is starting to wake up . *Usually!
What were the runs at that time like on your body? I have little energy left after a usually busy day so would find it a struggle to push myself to go out to run at the end of a day lol
Different!, possibly because I usually run without food or drink, so I made sure it was a couple of hours after.
My feet also felt different, as I had been up for about 12 hours before I ran.
But it was OK, I wouldn't make it my first choice, but you know sometimes if you are really tired, or the weather is horrendous and the gremlins get you, it means that is still possibly a run day!.
I have also run in the morning, about 10.00, previously avoided for the best part of 2 years.
I think I may have posted about it.
So now I have no excuse for doing at least 3 runs a week.
With the exception of this week, exceptional circumstances!!
There was very little run in the end, tomorrow should be better 😊
I have been there - scared the pants off me!! Well done Jell for staying so level-headed and thank goodness you came across that hay bale.
I used to help bring in the cows for milking at a friend’s farm when I was younger and never thought anything of it. Years later, I walked my dog with another friend and we had to go through a field of young cows. They all started to follow slowly, then got quicker and friskier. Fortunately my friend was a farmer’s daughter and handled the situation brilliantly but I was so beside myself. I happily do a long detour to avoid cows now!
Hope you’re feeling better and your next run is uneventful 😌
Thanks Hidden , I have walked through public footpaths many times and always given the cows the respect they deserve. I have never experienced this before though, but all good now!
Oh Jell6...I should not laugh...you poor thing. Good you got out there for the exercise but wow cattle is not something we normally have problems with now I am in southern suburbia. Happy days. Take care of yourself and good look on your next run. 🤞🧘🏼♀️😘
Ai yi yi! 😱 I come back after weeks away and look what I find ... running has become a danger sport! Glad you are resilient enough to make a good tale of it already, but you sure deserve extra cappuccino and double brownies for days to come. Glad it was a good escape. 💕🎉🏃🏼♀️ Take care, and beware the after-shock over the next couple of days.
Crikey that would have totally freaked me out too!! I’d have been scared as heck, hopefully you are ok now. Like you say tomorrow’s another day, takes the whole ‘stay safe’ to another level for sure!
Glad to hear you are alright after this fright Jell...it is scary, they are huge close up!
We were chased by some frisky young males whilst on a public footpath that went across their field. We had the dog on a lead, but they were so interested and excited by her we had to let her go to run to safety. It was very scary for us and the dog was panicking too. Ever since I'm so wary about entering a field with cows.
Totally understand how upsetting this morning was for you. 🌹xxx
I thought you were going to say you got a personal best for the sprint away. Joking aside I'm not a fan of cows and there is one in my village that keeps escaping and ends up in people's back gardens 😬
Oh bless you!where was this?.. I’m trying to recognise it! Always good to have a photo to look back on but I would have been like you! At least you had the thought to jump into the safety of the field! 😳
Sorry but I did giggle when you said it mounted the cow... so not shy then is he Mister bull 🙈
I’m glad you’re ok and we’re rescued by Mister quad bike man... 👏👏👏
Thanks TT, no sign of the escape route this morning 😆
Oh my word Jell6 I have just read this, how did you not die of fright on the spot, I am sure I would have done. I’ve had my own encounters with bulls but thankfully was not alone at the time. So glad you came out unscathed. 😅🤗
My work computer has locked me out, so I’ve resorted to stalking. You can tell by the photo, that’s definitely a bull!
Actually, this happened to me as well and was probably the single most frightening experience of my life. And I’ve stayed in a hotel with a ceiling mirror, so I’m no stranger to a fright.
I live on the toes of the New Forest, where there are wild horses and unchaperoned, free to roam cattle herds. We were taking a walk through the forest, myself, 9 1/2 month pregnant wife, elderly mother in law and 3 year-old daughter. We followed a path around a small hill and came across a small herd with a young bull and must’ve startled them. They proceeded to chase us, showing aggressive behaviour, for literally over a mile until we ran / waddled through a dense piece of forest and they didn’t enter. It was one of those situations where I couldn’t protect my whole family at once and I will literally trembling at the end.
So I picked up a big chunk of silverside on the way home and watched as is slow roasted.
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