aesop Loc: Finger Lakes area, NY

Imagine meeting this while riding in a rental sub compact. The herd was driven by two men on horseback and one very large and very mean looking dog. The men brandished bull whips. It was raining and their walrus mustaches were drooping. It was, needless to say, a rather brutal scene,
but, the herd parted and we were surrounded as the passed by leaving our little car unscathed

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Don't spend much time around cattle do you? Herefords are generally pretty gentle and easy going*. Whips are almost never used to actually hit an animal, the crack of the whip signals the cattle - my Grandfather was an expert, I tried but never really got very good. And though the dog may have looked mean to you no one with sense would use a mean/vicious/brutal animal to herd - too much chance of cattle injured, and those cattle are walking piles of money to a farmer/rancher.

A lot of farm/ranch kids make pets of calves and have them following them around like puppies even after the animal is full grown.

*Exception being a bull who feels his heifers are threatened or a heifer who feels her calf is threatened and even then they are almost always satisfied to bluff and scare off what they see as a threat.

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

Wow! Must have been pretty scary. I have to wonder tho, where you were in New Zealand.
I mean, "brutal scene", "very large and very mean looking dog", "bull whips", "walrus mustaches"?
Really?

vonzip Loc: cape cod

You don't run across that every day. vz

aesop Loc: Finger Lakes area, NY

I spent my teens working with my dad, a veterinarian, holding cattle with nose tongs while he injected them for TB testing. And I held dogs, muzzling them if necessary, at rabies clinics. Cattle are definitely gentle natured, they also weigh a few hundred pounds and could have crumpled a fender without any malicious intent. I have handled enough dogs to spot one that I wouldn't want to tangle with. I chose to describe the scene as brutal
because that is the best way to describe it. It wasn't Scary, but those guys had walrus mustaches and bull whips and the dog wasn't just tagging along.

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

Hi aesop. I don’t doubt what you saw, but it is certainly rather unusual. These look like dairy cows and as such, milked twice a day on most farms here. So pretty docile girls. And in 70+ years have never seen a farmer in NZ using a bull whip on his dairy herd anywhere, let alone on a public road. These girls are worth about $2000 each and it would be a recipe for disaster I think. NZ herding dogs are usually not that large or mean looking, the most common is the Huntaway though we used a Swedish Vallhund. She’s now 13 and lives with us at home now we are retired citified folk.
Anyway, just didn’t want you to scare anyone away from visiting our little bit of paradise. We drive about 3000 miles on country roads in our Motorhome every year and while we’ve pushed thru many herds of cows and flocks of sheep have never had any nervous moments. A cow did give us a bit of a rub once, but I think she might have just recognised Molly for a hello

aesop Loc: Finger Lakes area, NY

Those are beef cattle and this was over 20 years ago.

woodweasel Loc: bellingham Wa

I agree with robertjerl,

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Right on! Excellent response, and my thoughts exactly.

Stephan G

They were checking out the rumors of the grass being greener on the other side, as spread by those dang chickens.

One of my clients had a farm full of Angus steer. On one of my trips I decided to get some shots. When I approached them, they backed away from me. I have gotten several good shots. When I showed the prints, I kept mum about which direction they were moving.

Thanks for sharing.

Another answer to the proverbial query, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" "The herd was coming to town."

taffthetooth Loc: U.K

I had a similar traffic jam experience.

aesop Loc: Finger Lakes area, NY

Yeah, that's common and fun to see. Thanks.