When a bovine is snorting, growling, or pawing the ground or throwing its head at you, or even giving you that look that looks like they’re glaring at you, then move away from the fence and avoid eye contact. In the animal world, when you maintain eye contact with another animal that is visibly challenging you, that’s deemed a threat. If you do not move away or make a threatening gesture towards that animal, this will often lead to an attack. The ones to be most concerned about are: Cows that are protecting their calves or bulls that are growling at you. Head tossing, pawing, showing their sides, growling, etc. , are all warning signs that if you don’t get out of their way or away from their space, they will charge. If an animal is not showing any these signs, then it’s best to not worry about being attacked. Often even thinking negative thoughts will lead to negative behaviour from an animal.
Ringing up a farmer or rancher and asking him/her to visit their farm Arriving at the farm where you see cattle out in the corrals or pastures Walking into a barn where there are cattle in stalls, or out to the pasture where cattle are grazing. Watching him/her feed and interact with, as well as talk to you about their animals. Watching the cattle being moved from the barn to the field, or from one pasture to another. Walking up to the fence where the cattle are grazing Calling out to the cattle while holding out some treats through the fence Watching the cattle come over to you Allowing the cattle to take the feed from your outstretched hand Patting or petting a cow that the farmer reassures you is fine with human contact.
Remember, this is just an envisioning exercise, but it allows you to gradually work through the various levels of fear, especially in conjunction with thinking of a relaxing or peaceful image, then the anxious image, and so on, per each visualization until you feel comfortable with all of them.
Ringing up a farmer or rancher and asking him/her to visit their farm Arriving at the farm where you see cattle out in the corrals or pastures Walking into a barn where there are cattle in stalls, or out to the pasture where cattle are grazing. Watching him/her feed and interact with, as well as talk to you about their animals. Watching the cattle being moved from the barn to the field, or from one pasture to another. Walking up to the fence where the cattle are grazing Calling out to the cattle while holding out some treats through the fence Watching the cattle come over to you Allowing the cattle to take the feed from your outstretched hand Patting or petting a cow that the farmer reassures you is fine with human contact.
Remember, this is just an envisioning exercise, but it allows you to gradually work through the various levels of fear, especially in conjunction with thinking of a relaxing or peaceful image, then the anxious image, and so on, per each visualization until you feel comfortable with all of them.
The farm or ranch visit should be at least 40 minutes in duration. [6] X Research source Even longer would be better. If you can’t make it to a farm or ranch, wait for a local animal show or agricultural fair to come near you, and visit the cattle in their stalls or pens as they wait to be shown.
If you are nervous, tense, excited, anxious, angry, frustrated, frightened, depressed, etc. , then they will mirror your behaviour. An animal will always tell you what you are feeling by the behaviour they exhibit because they live in the present, never the past nor the future. Humans are the only animals that are able to live in the future or the past. Most phobias are enhanced by a person worrying about what is going to happen in the future, thus causing tension, anxiety and fear. If you learn to not anticipate what is going to happen in the future nor think negative thoughts, things will work out better than you initially expected. Thus, the key to being relaxed is to never anticipate the bad things. Always think happy thoughts, or just don’t think at all and just live in the now.
Practice deep breathing techniques to help you to stay calm.
If you see a herd of cattle standing at the fence staring at you and starting to follow you when you walk away, these animals are not acting dangerous. They just want some handouts from you! Such a herd will also be swinging their heads back at the flies or to lick themselves, switching their tails nonchalantly, scratching themselves on a fence post, or, if they’re relaxed enough, even start chewing their cud. After 15 to 20 minutes, if you haven’t given them anything of interest, they will start to wander off and continue what they were doing. If you only have one animal (like the herd bull or a single cow) that’s acting like he or she is agitated about your presence, then simply ignore them and move further away from the fence. Once you have moved a safe distance away (both to you and to them), then they will turn away and go back to where they were “stationed. " Remember, you have a higher chance of getting hurt by such an animal if you are in the same pasture or corral as them. If you stay on the opposite side of the fence from the threatening bovine and practice avoidance techniques, then they will eventually leave you be.
