Tag Archives: Cattle

Stampede

When I’m out walking I often pass fields of cattle. In general they either stare dolefully or run off when I look at them. Recently though, I was walking alongside one field and, at my appearance, the cattle ran to one side of the field, formed a group and then thundered down the hill toward me. When they got close, they did a U-turn and shot back up the hill.

Next day they did the same thing, but this time instead of the U-turn they stopped just across the hedge from me and stared. All the running about had stirred up the cattle egrets that invariably accompany them and that’s when I took this photo. I particularly like the devilish horns of the one animal peering out from the crowd.

I moved on and the cattle followed. We repeated this a couple of times before they decided they’d had enough.

On the third day, my appearance provoked only dull stares. Obviously the thrill of my presence had gone.

Saddle Road corral

As old Saddle Road winds upward from Waimea it passes through ranch land. This corral is clearly a going concern as evidenced by the loading ramps and surrounding fencing, but my eye is always drawn to the weathered ‘Delta Line’ structure. I’m not sure what it once was or what its purpose is now, but it appears to be in regular use.

Besides cattle, this is a good area to see pueo, the endemic Hawaiian short-eared owl.

Temporary substation

A temporary substation is installed while work is done on the Big Island of Hawaii

This little arrangement sprouted up in a cow pasture, beside the road to Upolu Airport, over the course of a week of so. It’s quite substantial with three new poles, fencing, and a gate having been put in, but the equipment itself is on wheels.

I was curious as to its purpose and finally happened by while workmen were there. As the title says, it’s a temporary substation. It’s been installed so that changes in the local distribution network can be achieved without power shutdowns. Supposedly, it will be in operation for two or three weeks, then the poles, fences, and equipment will be removed and the cows will get their pasture back.

Cattle and egrets

A cow chats with two cattle egrets.

I’m not sure one could call cows and cattle egrets friends. When cows graze, cattle egrets snaffle bugs stirred up in that process, but I don’t know of anything the egrets do for the cows in return.

However, this photo has a friendly feel to it. I picture the cow saying, ‘So you can fly, right? Could you teach me how?’ The egrets look suitably nonplussed at the suggestion.

Feel free to suggest your own caption in the comments.

Runaway cow

An escaped cow runs along the side of a road.
I like cows, but they can be nervous creatures. Escapees from the local dairy farm are quite common and not a big deal (unless I stop to consider the very large bulls sharing the same fields these cows escape from so easily). The cows rarely get into trouble, in part because they have to travel more than a mile before reaching the main road.

On this day, I was walking down the dirt road to the coast when this cow galloped around a corner, a quarter-mile distant, headed in my direction. She’d clearly been panicked by something and I knew that when she saw me, she might panic again.

The road widened just ahead so I eased up to that spot and hugged the fence line, hoping the cow would carry on past without becoming alarmed. She loped along, up on the bank on the far side of the road. Then, about 100 yards from me, she stopped, ears up, eyes staring. Clearly, I’d been spotted. I didn’t look her way, turning around and pretending I hadn’t noticed. The last thing I wanted was for her to head back the way she came with me walking along behind, stoking her fears.

Luckily, her existing anxiousness got the better of her and she thundered past along the bank, which is when I took this photo. What generally happens is that, eventually, someone from the farm sees the cow or cows on the road and rounds them up. The cows are inevitably relieved to be back in their pasture and all is well – until the next time.