Gate in the Gwaun Valley.  Photo credit Ieuan Yusuf George

But I’ll own up to being rather nervous of bullocks and heifers, as well as bulls – which often means avoiding fields that (from a distance) appear to have cows in. In my recent experience, these bovine teenagers are nosey animals and even walkers without dogs, who hug the edge of the field and walk purposefully towards the nearest stile can arouse such curiosity that the whole herd comes thundering across the field to investigate. So far they have always stopped just short but my fertile imagination informs me of what might happen if they fail to stop in time .. and it worries me.

So, when approaching a field of ‘cows’ all I look for is a nice full udder. If I don’t see it, I’ll walk the long way round.

(The Health and Safety Executive has regulations on which bulls are allowed in a field that is crossed by a footpath and how the public should be informed: A suitable bull sign would be triangular with a yellow background and a black band around the outside. A bull or bull’s head should be shown (black on yellow) on the sign, with supplementary text (also black on yellow) such as ‘bull in field’ if desired. Supplementary text should not suggest that the bull is aggressive, threatening or dangerous (ie avoid words such as ‘beware’ or ‘danger’).