Close Calls

[R.N.Reed]

While perusing the posts here on ''Hereford Today'' I came across Idaman's story of surviving being pinned between a bulls horns and thought there might be some good stories out there with all the combined years of experience with cattle on this board.
P.S.This topic is open to all breeds and crosses and I guess Frankie too.

 

[alacattleman]

While perusing the posts here on ''Hereford Today'' I came across Idaman's story of surviving being pinned between a bulls horns and thought there might be some good stories out there with all the combined years of experience with cattle on this board.
P.S.This topic is open to all breeds and crosses and I guess Frankie too.

:cowboy:

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

I was around twelve and helping dad. A black white face cow decided she was getting out of dodge whether I was in the way of the gate or not. She knocked me down and danced all over me for what seemed like five minutes while I was doing my best to take the fetal position. Anyways, she never stepped on me.

Not cow related but by far my closest call was a car wreck where I lost my right leg from an angle iron that came up through my floor board

 

[40-4171]

This one might be a little embarrasing for some folks. You have all heard Dad had some cattle with attitude. I can't remember what he called this bull. He usually named them by their personality. Toughy, Tiger, Yellow, Buckshot, Fuzzkitty, etc. I think this one might have been toughy. Sold an interest to a breeder in NM. Decided he wanted to weigh him before going. I was not there, so I was told this second hand as I don't think Dad ever told anyone the story. Toughy pinned Dad against the fence, Just like Idaman described about 110. Dad always carried a short hotshot in his back pocket when working cattle. He pulls the hotshout out and sticks it right between Toughy"s eyes. Toughy didn't think that was proper treatment and proceeded to rip Dad between the legs with a horn. I guess there was a fair amount of bled shed about them. Had to get to the hospital for some surgery to put the pieces back on home plate so to speak. Someone persueded Dad to tell what happened in the hospital one night during supper. He said well they got me to the hospital and put my legs in one of those labor tables just like a women having a baby but that was not the bad part. Since they had not done this proceedure before at St. Thomas hospital the DR calls in about 3 or 4 nurses to observe the proceedure. Dad said if you remember show and tell back in grade school, it was just like that. Dad was hurt every now and them but was a quick healer. He came out no worse for the trauma.

 

[Third Row]

Right after he turned 90, my grandfather (who had been put in the hospital by a cow in his early 80s) came up to me with a broom and asked me to sweep off his back before grandma saw him. I asked him what happened, he walked into the pen with a mean as hell cow that was too much for me to handle in my 20s and stood right over her calf by accident. She popped him good and rubbed him around in the ground.

My goal is to live to be that stupid when I turn 90.

 

[KNERSIE]

Nothing romantic about my story...

I had no fear at all around cattle as I believed I read them well enough to know when they meant business, last year I helped unload and pen cows at a show where pairs are being shown directly from the veld (for lack of a better translation, you can substitute veld for range). This mad hereford cow was unloaded and her calf jump through the scale and somehow got out of the alleyway leading from the loading bay to the pens. The cow followed suit and started towards me at quite a pace, I tried to stop her and then she decided she wants my blood and charged me down. I was run over and stepped on on my lower back, right elbow and right foot. I got up rather the worse for wear and decided they can unload their crazy cows themselves. Never went to a doctor, but had a few dislocated toes and probably a few small fractures in my right foot that took forever to heal.

I'm still not afraid of cattle, but I'm more carefull now. To date this is the only cow I've ever seen charge a human from 30 yards away with the intention to hurt/kill/maim and ironically it was a hereford cow.

 

[alacattleman]

all my injuries came from horse's and rodeo,, broken right leg, broken back, collar bone, delocated elbow twice, and shoulder

 

[JHH]

Mom and I went to look at some bred heifers ( crossbred) and we ended up buying 3. Any way one was a black one that just went wild when we unloaded her. She didnt seem that way when we bought her. She jumped every fence on the farm and it took me two days to put her back in just to watch her jump the fence on the other side of the pasture. So I got me a pen ready and finally got her in there another two or three days later. She runs in and turns around and decided I was in the way. Dad always told me they close there eyes before they hit you so I stood my ground and she didnt close her eyes. She had me pinned to the ground and was not letting up, but I somehow managed to find an old broken off hedge limb that was next to me and I kept hitting her nose and head as hard as I could and she finally gave up and ran back out of the pen. I left her out and 2 days later she got hit by a car on the hiway.We had insurance on the cows and no one was hurt. The insurance company paid me more for her than I gave for her and the other people got there car fixed. I came out wiser and no broken bones but very sore.

 

[angie1]

I was giving a large calf a bolus and had his head pulled up between my legs. He charged forward lifting my feet off the ground and I tumbled backwards off his back. Broke my right shoulder. Other than that, the horses have been harder on me than the cattle ~ but thats another story.

 

[Idaman]

This one might be a little embarrasing for some folks. You have all heard Dad had some cattle with attitude. I can't remember what he called this bull. He usually named them by their personality. Toughy, Tiger, Yellow, Buckshot, Fuzzkitty, etc. I think this one might have been toughy. Sold an interest to a breeder in NM. Decided he wanted to weigh him before going. I was not there, so I was told this second hand as I don't think Dad ever told anyone the story. Toughy pinned Dad against the fence, Just like Idaman described about 110. Dad always carried a short hotshot in his back pocket when working cattle. He pulls the hotshout out and sticks it right between Toughy"s eyes. Toughy didn't think that was proper treatment and proceeded to rip Dad between the legs with a horn. I guess there was a fair amount of bled shed about them. Had to get to the hospital for some surgery to put the pieces back on home plate so to speak. Someone persueded Dad to tell what happened in the hospital one night during supper. He said well they got me to the hospital and put my legs in one of those labor tables just like a women having a baby but that was not the bad part. Since they had not done this proceedure before at St. Thomas hospital the DR calls in about 3 or 4 nurses to observe the proceedure. Dad said if you remember show and tell back in grade school, it was just like that. Dad was hurt every now and them but was a quick healer. He came out no worse for the trauma.

I think I remember that time at least his telling the story of his misfortune. I finally remembered about where Franklin eased up on 086 so slowly. It was at a Hereford tour at Miller and Martensen. They had leased 086 and were deathly afraid of him. To the best of my recollection the bull never offered to do anything. He just seemed to have a look in his eye that said that caution might be the word of the day. Just study his eyes in the picture I posted and you will see what I mean. M&M did tell me that he had run Mrs. Martensen through the fence while he was there and I noticed they always kept a cow or two with him at all times. I was never suggesting that Franklin was afraid to approach 086 but with all those people watching he didn't want an unfortunate incident. I wonder who promoted and set up the lease of 086 to M&M.

 

[Idaman]

When my wife and I were first married we were walking through a corral, the same one where 110 nearly got me. We were checking the calvers and walking side by side. All of a sudden this old high horned Pastorius cow ran up behind us and litterally lifted Connie up and into a prone position above the cows back. Connie began to scream and the old cow was right on top of her blowing snot in her face. I grabbed a club and hit the ole biddy right across the nose. All this did was cause her to bleed from the nose quite profusely. The blood and snot mixed and she blew both of them all over Connie and then retreated as quickly as she had come. Of course Connie saw all the blood and concluded that she had been punctured.
Needless to say the screaming reached a feverish pitch until I could convince her that she was not dying.

You know, it was real hard to get her to check the calvers at night alone after that.

 

[R.N.Reed]

Here's the one that still sends a chill down my spine.We live on a highway and there was a time when people would abandon dogs by our place.I had a border collie that would run them off but after she had passed on this ugly black dog showed up and for some reason I let him stay on the place.About the same time I had a 2 yr old bull that had suddenly turned ugly and I was getting close to shipping him when the incident happened.For some reason I had to go in his pen and the bull came up behind me from across the pen and threw me about 10'against the side of the pen and when I took a quick look he was coming in for the finishing blow.When he didn't hit I looked again and that black dog was hangin on his tail and didnt let go until I had crawled out of the pen.That dog was hit and killed on the highway less than 2 weeks after he saved my life!

 

[GRTiger85]

Yep those dogs can be a life saver. My dad was checking cows for a neighbor back when he managed a large ranch(was in his 20's). Neighbor had 2 cows one had about a 5 month old calf. Dad for some reason was having to pen the pair and happend to look up to see the other cow who had no calf, coming at him in a dead run cow got him down and started working him over, stepped all over him head included, he had 2 border collies with him who he had told to stay in the truck, he was able to call them and they got the cow off of him and probably saved his life. He went to finally climb over the fence slipped and was hanging by his leg from the top strand of bobwire when somebody found him. Spent a week in the ICU, cow had stepped on the back of his head and peeled his scalp from behind his ears forward, collapsed a lung, broke ribs, etc. Just goes to show it doesnt have to be the cow with the calf that gets you, and you should always have a good cattle dog or two, nothing beats a border collie.

I had a close call this winter trying to tag a new cows calf, but was able to duck and weave and out run the cow. She was out for blood though.

 

[Idaman]

Yep those border collies are great as we now have only six. They have probaly saved us a few more time than they have almost gotten us killed. Best from the back of a horse.

For variety we now have McNabbs and a cattle master. The McNabbs are just juiced up border collies that are super intelligent and opinionated. They are very catlike with small paws and tremendous agility. The cattle master is one fourth pit bull, one fourth McNabb and one half border collie. The cattle masters look like a white faced tiger stripe are somewhat slow witted but very tough with a lot of bite.

The McNabb when spoken to by a stranger or someone he doesn't like turns his back to the speaker lays down, refuses to look even in the direction of the culprit.

One time I decided to try and make friends with him and bought some jerky to use as a bribe, something like being so ugly that you have to tye a bone around your neck to get the dog to play with you. He took the first piece of jerky and we were friends. Next we had to load some calves and he waited in the truck. He ate the rest of the jerky, didn't even tear the sack or move it four inches and was laying in the back seat with his eyes closed. On the way home we stopped to buy some pop and I bought some more bribe jerky. I didn't want him to forget me after the first bite. This time I bought some more jerky but this time I bought some of the cheaper stuff, it's only for a dog you know. When I offered him the jerky he refused it although I could feel his nose whiskers on my hand.

At this time we also discovered a rather unpleasant aspect of the McNabbs when a horrible odor waifted up into the front seat while the dog rested with his eyes closed but grinning.

 

[KMacGinley]

I had a close call tonight! I took Gary (R.N. Reed) back his shorthorn heifers and we were out looking at his new calves and I walked into an electric fence across the pasture and almost got shocked!

 

[alexfarms]

I've never had a "close call" with cattle, as far as almost being killed, but I have had to watch myself alot more around my cows since moving to Kansas. It seems the coyote population has really made an impression on my cows and they are much more protective now than they ever were in Nebraska. I would really just as soon my dog wasn't walking near me when I walk my pastures because she sure must look like a coyote to my cows. I was walking through the calving pasture with my dog once this spring and a calf bellered and all the cows looked up and saw the dog and they all got worked up...it was kind of a naked feeling out in the open like that with the dog, I yelled at her to "get" and she did and the cows gave her a half hearted chase and got me off the hook as I hustled to the nearest fence. I don't think I can count the number of times I have been chased by a cow or bull and had to take the fence, but I have only been hit a couple times, once this spring when I was weighing a calf, and none of them were a very solid hit. Polled Herefords are a pretty gentle breed to deal with, thankfully.

 

[Herefords.US]

I've never had a "close call" with cattle, as far as almost being killed, but I have had to watch myself alot more around my cows since moving to Kansas. It seems the coyote population has really made an impression on my cows and they are much more protective now than they ever were in Nebraska. I would really just as soon my dog wasn't walking near me when I walk my pastures because she sure must look like a coyote to my cows. I was walking through the calving pasture with my dog once this spring and a calf bellered and all the cows looked up and saw the dog and they all got worked up...it was kind of a naked feeling out in the open like that with the dog, I yelled at her to "get" and she did and the cows gave her a half hearted chase and got me off the hook as I hustled to the nearest fence. I don't think I can count the number of times I have been chased by a cow or bull and had to take the fence, but I have only been hit a couple times, once this spring when I was weighing a calf, and none of them were a very solid hit. Polled Herefords are a pretty gentle breed to deal with, thankfully.

Last year, my 7 pound Rat Terrier almost caused me some grief by getting out the window of the pickup while I was closely examining the last newborn calf that my old Harland cow had. The old cow started after the dog and she in turn ran directly under my feet for protection. I found out that I could still dance around pretty good for a gimpy old fat man! I was really glad that the cow was dehorned and getting old! After several passes the cow made at the dog between my feet and me quickly sidestepping out of the way, the dog wisely decided the best place for her was UNDER the pickup!

George

 

[regolith]

I had a close call tonight! I took Gary (R.N. Reed) back his shorthorn heifers and we were out looking at his new calves and I walked into an electric fence across the pasture and almost got shocked!

Done that so many times in the dark of night - I don't think I've ever timed it right to get a shock though.
But I was letting heifers through a poly-tape onto their new break one time, standing by the tape when someone missed the open end, caught her hoof in the tape and dragged it forward - across the back of my knees. Discovered a lovely red burn mark when I regained my feet.

And then there was the bull who didn't like the fact I was shutting a gate on him, and jumped clean over the top of me - I got an excellent view of the soles of his feet before he disappeared downhill.
Closest miss was probably a group of dairy yearlings in an old byre, I was scraping the muck off the concrete having fed them, they were hanging around at the open end of the shed down by the gate when something spooked them, all twenty came flying up the narrow passage. I kept up with them for a few steps before getting knocked over, but not a hoof touched me. I had to go and hose myself down though.
Guess I'm not old enough to have any real stories for ya.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I think I posted this last yr when it happened but here it is again
A neighbor was helping another neighbor work his calves they were putting the last bunch in the tub when this 5wgt cakf kicks out and gets his hoof got on the fly of this guys pants his pants rip and the hoof continues inside of the jeans and is still hung and goes to fighting
after a few kicks it comes loose but the guys scotum was severely cut with his testicle hanging out
He was like poor Franklin he said the worst part was every Dr, Nurse, Orderly,and maintenance man in the hospital had to come take a look

I haver had a few scrapes and bruise from cows in my life but never anything too bad

and to comment on what on another post a COW will never close her eyes when she hits you
Bulls will most of the time

 

[JHH]

I think I posted this last yr when it happened but here it is again
A neighbor was helping another neighbor work his calves they were putting the last bunch in the tub when this 5wgt cakf kicks out and gets his hoof got on the fly of this guys pants his pants rip and the hoof continues inside of the jeans and is still hung and goes to fighting
after a few kicks it comes loose but the guys scotum was severely cut with his testicle hanging out
He was like poor Franklin he said the worst part was every Dr, Nurse, Orderly,and maintenance man in the hospital had to come take a look

I haver had a few scrapes and bruise from cows in my life but never anything too bad

and to comment on what on another post a COW will never close her eyes when she hits you
Bulls will most of the time

Learned it the hard way. No forgetting that one.