So, I'm working on this super simple survey,?ÿ (read was simple, until I began finding bent over monuments, one monument a tree had overgrown etc)
Anyhow, I go tie a rebar set by my dad, I cross 2 fences to do it. I'm letting the Javad LS click and get data, while I'm doing some inverses, to determine the next course of action. Suddenly, I hear a noise behind me. I turn, and it's a 2000 lb black bull. His head is down, like he's curious. It startles me.i then put my hand down, like let's be friends. He starts bellering, and pawing the ground. That fence is too hard to get over, and one lunge at me, and I'm in trouble. I'm looking for a way to escape. There really isn't one.
I pull out my leatherman, and start aggressively towards him, like it's a shocker cattle prod thing. He backs up. I chase him 50 yds back. The, tell him if he comes for me, that it'll be his nearly last day on earth. I go back to the LS. It's on its 2nd observation. I stop it, and head for the next rebar.
I bluffed that bull. Probably an Angus. He left me alone. I got my shots. I got home in one piece.?ÿ
Praise God.
It coulda been alot worse.
That's all my true story from today.
Nate
They say that mature bulls are very docile, because they conserve their energy for one thing, so you were probably in no danger.
More than once I heard the story told about my Dad getting between a bull and the transit and holding off the bull with his brush hook.. The bull got close enough to the outstretched brush hook that Dad pressed the point of the hook on its skull between the eyes. The bull backed up and slowly walked away.
Me. "What's the difference?"
T.C. Carroll "It's the difference between right and wrong!"
When I first saw him, he was about 5' away. He startled me. He could sense my fear. That could have escalated it. Un-unintentionally.
I did not weigh him, to get that weight estimate. Just a guess.?ÿ
N
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They say that mature bulls are very docile, because they conserve their energy for one thing, so you were probably in no danger.
They say. Are they alive? Or is this just the spectators?
Explain it to my fast-beating heart!
N
Mama cows are far more likely to come after you if you happen to be between them and their calf.?ÿ As long as you don't hint you are there hoping to breed his cows, the bull normally doesn't care about you at all. ???? ???? ??? ??? ???? ?????ÿ
My neighbor, Eugene, was killed about a year ago. He got between a cow and her calf.
N
Tell me about it.?ÿ I bought a few new cows several months ago.?ÿ One had her calf last week in an area where everything is about two feet tall and thick.?ÿ Not knowing how she reacts to anyone being near her calf, I approached in the pickup very carefully before stepping out to chat with her.?ÿ She's smart.?ÿ She would stare off a ways then make a soft call to her calf, getting no response.?ÿ Then she would turn about 90 degrees and repeat the process.?ÿ All she was doing was letting me know that she knew what I was up to and she wasn't going to help me one bit.?ÿ Gave up and drove away very carefully trying to be sure I didn't drive over it
We had a mean old Holstein bull that we bought a long time ago.?ÿ Should have known better when be bought him because it was the only one we'd ever purchased that had a nose ring...well, he set after my grandfather one day and gramps lost his footing and fell onto his back.?ÿ He was (somewhat) in control of the situation because he had a tight grip on that nose ring and the bull didn't like how that felt very much.
Out of the house comes Grandma and decides she going to save the day.?ÿ Hops the fence picks up a big ol' rock and chucks it at the bull.?ÿ Caught my grandfather right on the top of the head.?ÿ When it was all was said and done, the only medical treatment he needed was the 15 stitches from rock.?ÿ
I was working on staking a sanitary sewer outfall in Chandler, OK back in 1972.?ÿ ?ÿWe had to park the truck on the local roads and hoof our gear back and forth into the job every day.
One afternoon we finished up and I was heading for the truck with a wye level on a stiff-legged tripod resting on my shoulder.?ÿ I had crossed this one particular pasture a hunnert times over the course of a few days with no trouble.?ÿ The grass was high and I remember having to high step to keep my boots from getting tangled in the grass.?ÿ As I was walking I could hear the dead grass crunching under my steps.?ÿ Then I realized I could hear grass crunching under someone else's feet...
With the tripod on my shoulder I kind of had to turn my entire torso to get a peek at what was tromping the grass behind me.?ÿ It was the biggest and ugliest Brahman bull I had ever seen.?ÿ He was a mottled color with the big hump on his shoulders.?ÿ His horns were all gnarled and turned down with an evil arc giving him and almost satanic look.?ÿ He seemed most interested in sniffing my butt like a dog.?ÿ If I walked faster he also sped up.?ÿ I knew I was dead.
I finally made it to the opposite fence and pulled off the most graceful semi-pole vault with the level.?ÿ One boot just barely touched the fence once as I cleared the top.
I looked at him from the safety of my side of the fence.?ÿ He stood there, flicked his tail and shook his head..slinging slobber all over me.?ÿ I didn't mind since I was safe.?ÿ We chatted for a few moments.?ÿ I found out he enjoyed having the top of his nose scratched.?ÿ 😉
I'm under a ridge at a pile of stones. I'm taking pictures, measuring a stone, stamping the brass cap. The area has cows, some horses, it's a large open shared pasture. I hear some soft rustling above me. Don't pay attention, still focused on the cap. Some more noise so I look up the hill and a cub is there watching. Now the noise has my attention. Still stamping, the mom appears. I get the monument set, stone buried, monument located and the cub starts coming towards me. The sow is clearly upset as it chashes after the cub. I don't even pack up, just jump on the 4wheeler trying to hang on to everything and leave as fast as I can. I've watched bears run down and up hills. I saw one moving up a seriously steep big canyon like it was a running track and it didn't stop as it crested the canyon wall and disappeared. I wasn't sure my 4wheeler could out run it in a short sprint, but I knew I sure couldn't.?ÿ?ÿ
My wife was a city girl.?ÿ She'd never been around any livestock at all.?ÿ When we were dating she went with my father and me to feed his cows.?ÿ We sat in the bed of his pickup and tossed out hay and corn when he stopped.?ÿ My future wife was looking out one side of the truck when our 2,000 pound Santa Gertrudis bull stuck his head in from the other side to get to the corn.?ÿ The first thing she saw was a head as big as she was about a foot away.?ÿ Needless to say she evacuated the bed of the truck immediately.?ÿ That bull was about as tame as you can get but he was BIG.
Andy
That bull was about as tame as you can get but he was BIG.
Andy, that got to me the other day.
A monster pawing the ground, and "growling". I don't know what to call it. I would have handled it much better, but he was so close, when we started "getting acquainted".
N
I figure if an animal the size of a car gets the jump on me then he got me fair and square. ????ÿ
The most frightening critter I've ever encountered was no bigger that a sewing basket.
I was chaining through some head high Johnson grass once.?ÿ I had a range pole and was straining to see the instrument while whipping the chain over the top of the grass.?ÿ The whole time I was backing up.
Suddenly I was frozen by a sound that most assuredly was from the devil hisself.?ÿ It was a cross between a guttural growl, groan and a burp.?ÿ It repeated and got louder.?ÿ It was somewhere near my feet.?ÿ I had visions of being eaten alive by a rabid badger...feet first.
I carefully started pushing the grass side to side with the range pole in an effort to at least see what was going to get me.?ÿ I finally found a momma armadillo with her babies all nestled in the grass litter.?ÿ She definitely protested my presence, but never did anything aside from making a horrible noise.?ÿ I cut her a wide berth and continued on. 😉
?ÿ
Yeah,?ÿ That's no bull.?ÿ Messing with a new born calf up to about a week can get you hurt for sure.?ÿ Even after that cows don't like you between them and the calf.
Had to separate a new calf from his Mama yesterday.?ÿ The evening before I offered that group of cows a nice snack, but to get it they had to follow me into a small fenced area of about three to four acres.?ÿ Closed the gate and left them there overnight.?ÿ A buddy came over with his four young grandchildren to get the calf.?ÿ When I put out a snack in a corral, all of them crowded in except about a half dozen, including Mama and her calf.?ÿ Emptied the corral back into the big pasture and sorted off all but Mama and baby and let them into the big pasture.?ÿ Slowly worked those two around gently until they went into the corral.?ÿ Mama put her head into a trough to slick up some leftovers of the snack.?ÿ Let them chill out for about five minutes.?ÿ Slipped into the corral, opened a gate enough that Mama could feel the draft and she headed for daylight, not realizing the baby was on the back side of the gate.?ÿ The gate was shut.?ÿ All that was left to do was to immobilize the calf enough to load it into the bed of a side-by-side.?ÿ With the help of the four youngsters, all under age 11, that was accomplished quickly.?ÿ By buddy had a crate loaded on the same trailer as he had used to bring the side-by-side.?ÿ Two kids and the calf were loaded into the open-topped crate for the ride back to their house.?ÿ The look on the faces of my new little co-owners was precious.
Meanwhile, Mama took off to find the herd on the assumption Junior must be with them.?ÿ Mama has mastitis.?ÿ Junior couldn't get a meal no matter how hard he tried.?ÿ I was told he wolfed down a half gallon of milk replacer as soon as he was settled into his new home.
That is scary. I've thought of the possibility of that happening, luckily I do mostly subdivision layout.?ÿ
Baby wants to play, mom is probably going to kill you just to be safe.?ÿ