Hi all, I have just returned from Castle Bottom, having found all the cows sheltering together in the woods (area 10), and the ponies up at what seems to be their favourite spot by the corral. We looked at the patches of bare skin that are developing on two of the cows, and checked that the skin looks healthy, with no wounds/rashes/sores/scabs to suggest any health problems. I spoke to the grazier who confirmed that this is relatively normal this time of year, as the cows are moulting and losing fur anyway, and perhaps might lose a clump in patches dues to licking/excessive rain/rubbing on vegetation/fencing posts. So it seems like it is just another thing to keep an eye on and monitor.
The ponies seemed quite calm today, although judging from their recent behaviour it may be wise to exercise caution when undertaking checks. It can be a good idea to carry a large stick, as an extra barrier between you and the animals, and to make you look bigger and therefore dominant. Although the ponies are not wild animals as such, they are not tame either, and can behave unpredictably as their moods change. Please do let us know if there are any further incidents involving the ponies - it might be useful to keep some kind of record of their moods/behaviours, to see if we can identify any trends or triggers.
All the best,
Natalie
Saw jack and Jill today just by the coopers hill entrance, jack came over to investigate but got bored quickly. All 10 cattle were in section 11/12 in the middle of the path, it was hard not to find them. Looking at about 18:00 seems to the best time for me as I've seen them every time apart from once when I went at 17:00. It was sunny and hot too!
ReplyDeleteWednesday 1st May 10:30am
ReplyDeleteA successful looking session. Ponies found quietly standing down in the valley of section 9.
All the cattle grazing in the shrubby area, on the top of the hill in section 9.
I wanted to add that we had an incident with Jack about 3 weeks ago. We were, admittedly, a large group... about 15 of us, with two dogs on leads. After initially coming over to see us, Jack made a charge at one of the dogs and then seemed to charge one of the children (he was in an 'aroused state' - if you get what I mean!). No harm was done, but it was a little scary for us all and my daughter reall does not want to go back.
DeleteSaturday 14:00
ReplyDeleteJack and Jill were grazing in the valley in area 1 seen from the Blackbushe Airfield entrance footpath by the bench. We called them but they didn't show any interest.
All 10 of the cattle were on the top of the hill in area 6. We looked for the two with bald patches. On one it is quite small and mostly covered by hair (a comb-over!!). The other has quite a large bald patch which is pale but healthy-looking.
We didn't find any damaged fences although we didn't see the whole site.
Sunday 10.30am
ReplyDeleteJack & Jill were by the Blackbushe gate - both calm today! and the 10 cattle were all together on the other side of the stream.
all cattle found look ok except for bold patches,but they looked dry.no sign of the ponies
ReplyDeleteJust to let you all know that arrangements are being been made to replace Jack with a calmer pony more suitable to a public environment like Castle Bottom. More details soon!
ReplyDeleteWednesday 9th May 11:30am
ReplyDeleteFound all the cattle in area 6/7. All looked fine, fortunately the little one now seems to spend most of his time with the rest of the herd. After scouting around the site, we did not catch any sightings of the ponies.