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Don't hug that cow!
30/08/2006 13:11 - (SA)
Geneva - Keep your distance. Avoid eye
contact. And even if it looks cute, never hug a Swiss cow.
Responding to numerous "reports of unpleasant meetings
between hikers and cattle" along Switzerland's picture-perfect
Alpine trails this summer, the Swiss Hiking Federation has laid
down a few ground rules.
"Leave the animals in peace and do not touch them. Never
caress a calf," the group's guidance, posted on the website
www.swisshiking.ch, reads.
"Do not scare the animals or look them directly in the eye.
Do not wave sticks. Give a precise blow to the muzzle of the cow
in the event of absolute need," it continues.
Evelyne Zaugg of the Swiss Hiking Federation said that while
there were no precise statistics on incidents involving cows,
walkers are reporting more run-ins than a few years ago.
She said new rearing practices, where the animals spend less
time around farmers and wander in pastures with little human
interaction, were partly to blame for the anti-social behaviour.
Many walkers also panic when confronted by cattle.
"Hikers lose reality about the cows. They don't know how to
react when a cow appears," Zaugg said.
If approached by a cow, the hiking association recommends
that walkers remain calm and slowly leave the area without
turning their backs on the animal.
Michel Darbellay of the Service for the Prevention of
Agricultural Accidents, a private group that helped produce the
Swiss Hiking Federation's lowdown, said walkers had little to
fear if they stayed 20 to 50 metres from any cow.
But dogs attract cow trouble, he warned.
Mother cows consider dogs a threat to their calves and tend
to respond aggressively to their presence. It is when the dogs
retreat towards their owners that walkers are most likely to face a charging cow, Darbellay said.
"The best practice is to maintain a fair distance and keep
dogs on a leash," he said.
- Reuters
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South Africa
