Hiking Safely with Cows

Cows: friend or foe? In Switzerland, you are never far from cows, especially in the alps in summer. In 8 years of hiking here, I’ve never had problems with cows on the trail; we always considered cows a fun addition to the experience. But this summer, I had two scary encounters with aggressive cows in the same week. I think both incidents were because of mother cows protecting their calves, which we hadn’t noticed until the mother intervened. I don’t want to scare you or discourage you from hiking. I’m simply sharing my experience to help you stay safe on the trail.

This last weekend I was happy to see a sign (shown below) warning hikers to steer clear of mother cows and their babies. In all my years in Switzerland, I’ve never seen this sign. Perhaps this is becoming more of an issue. In spring and early summer, it’s baby cow time so mama cows are very protective and may charge anything they see as a threat. Calves grow quickly and often just look like smaller cows, not babies. So you, like us, may not realize at first that you are near a calf. Be observant and err on the side of caution.

Cow attacks do happen, but they are quite rare. Cows are usually docile and normally pose no problem on the trail. But it’s always better to be informed.

I’m not an expert on cows, so I prefer to direct you to a few sites that I found helpful:

• How to Survive an Aggressive Cow Attack (About.com)
• Take care around cows (British Mountaineering Council)
• Safety Tips for Hiking Near Grazing Animals (East Bay Parks)
• Walking through fields with cows: How to stay safe (goforawalk.com)

Please read the full information from these sites. But in short, these sites tend to agree that when walking among cows, you should:

• avoid calves and do not get between a calf and its mother
• keep dogs on a leash and give cows a wide birth
• walk slowly and calmly, without any sudden moves or loud noises
• but also, do not surprise cows, talking quietly while approaching and make sure they see you
• if the cow comes closer, face the cow and walk backwards, do not run
• if a cow attacks, use your hiking sticks as a weapon (I hope it never comes to this!)

Just for fun, I’ll quickly tell you my stories. In the first case, I was hiking in Stoos with a friend and a cow on the trail stopped grazing, stared us down, then started to approach us. She had been standing with another slightly smaller cow, which in retrospect, must have been her calf. We kept walking slowly past, but she turned and started snorting at us and shaking her head and nudged us a long, just inches from my head. I didn’t know what to do, so I stopped to make friends and let her smell me while I spoke calmly and cheerfully. She licked my arm for awhile (yuck!) and seemed friendly. But she clearly wanted us out. So as soon as we started walking again, she walked fast right behind me, nudging me and snorting. It was very scary. Luckily, we quickly reached the cow gate and safety. As soon as we crossed the gate, she turned and went back to her calf. We were lucky.

A few days later, I was hiking with my kids in Engelberg. The trail entered an area with cows and I was wary from my previous experience. So I had us walk along the cow fence, a single electric rope that we could easily duck under. I saw two cows by the barn and another cow very far up the trail. As soon as we entered the field, the cow up the hill started running down the hill. I immediately had everyone duck under the cow fence so we were separated from this cow. The cow didn’t approach us but ran all the way to the other two cows by the barn. When she reached them, it became obvious that those two cows were slighter smaller than the running cow and must have been her babies. When she was far enough away, we ducked back under the cow fence and continued on the trail. She watched us the whole way but didn’t approach us. Unfortunately I got shocked when ducking under the fence when my backpack caught on the rope. It was scary and hurt a bit, but not too much. Be careful!