This is a little weird.
A tenant has cattle on my farm, and I also live there. One of the cattle is an Angus bull.
A while back, while I was standing at a fence that separated me from the cattle, the bull wandered over slowly and presented his forehead. This was a new experience to me. I used to hang around on my grandfather's farm as a kid, and his cattle never had much interest in socializing, except when someone showed up with corn. Some were mean, and while his bulls never bothered anyone, one had killed another bull, and nobody thought of them as animals you would want to get near.
Anyway, I was amazed that this bull was so forward, so I rubbed his forehead to see if that was what he wanted, and he was fine with it. I wondered if the tenant had made friends with him or something.
Ordinarily, I would never make any effort to touch the cattle.
Today, I was walking around in the pasture. I was taking pictures, and I think I got too near the bull. He approached me. I had no idea what was going on. He got really close. So close I put a hand on his forehead again. I was thinking I might have to fire a shot to run him off. He snorted, which didn't sound like a good thing, and I hollered at him and told him to get back.
I do not want to be friends with the cattle because I'm not totally stupid, but I wonder if anyone here has any idea what this animal is telling me and what I should do. What will discourage him from approaching? Maybe an air horn?
I don't want to be mashed, and I definitely don't want him to get the idea that I'm interested in romance.
They also love to swarm the tractor when I go out to move things. Not sure what that's about. Maybe they used to see bales arrive that way.
A tenant has cattle on my farm, and I also live there. One of the cattle is an Angus bull.
A while back, while I was standing at a fence that separated me from the cattle, the bull wandered over slowly and presented his forehead. This was a new experience to me. I used to hang around on my grandfather's farm as a kid, and his cattle never had much interest in socializing, except when someone showed up with corn. Some were mean, and while his bulls never bothered anyone, one had killed another bull, and nobody thought of them as animals you would want to get near.
Anyway, I was amazed that this bull was so forward, so I rubbed his forehead to see if that was what he wanted, and he was fine with it. I wondered if the tenant had made friends with him or something.
Ordinarily, I would never make any effort to touch the cattle.
Today, I was walking around in the pasture. I was taking pictures, and I think I got too near the bull. He approached me. I had no idea what was going on. He got really close. So close I put a hand on his forehead again. I was thinking I might have to fire a shot to run him off. He snorted, which didn't sound like a good thing, and I hollered at him and told him to get back.
I do not want to be friends with the cattle because I'm not totally stupid, but I wonder if anyone here has any idea what this animal is telling me and what I should do. What will discourage him from approaching? Maybe an air horn?
I don't want to be mashed, and I definitely don't want him to get the idea that I'm interested in romance.
They also love to swarm the tractor when I go out to move things. Not sure what that's about. Maybe they used to see bales arrive that way.