2022-01-21 -38 146

Matt at the hash.

Location

In a cow paddock between Moe and Trafalgar.

Participants

Mdixon4 (talk)

Expedition

I was once again blessed with a great-looking geohash, so I headed out first thing. The morning air was still cool, but out of the shade the sun left no doubt to its intention - it would be a hot day, good to get the riding done early. I stopped to pick a few plums and then turned off onto Weirs Rd, which climbs the valley to the right. It's a frequent climb of mine, featuring all manner of animals, including a few dogs, a duck pond, a pony paddock, plenty of cows, and a few sheep with their guard emu, "Mu". Whenever I ride past Mu's paddock he starts to round up the sheep and drums a warning beat; I daren't get too close.

The road along the top of the Ridge, Moe South Road, took me right past the paddock where the hash lay. I disembarked and climbed over the fence and started tracking towards my goal. As I drew to the top of a small hill, I saw that the paddock was not empty, in fact there were dozens of cattle, who saw me and started ambling away. Very well, I thought to myself, I'll just walk over this way and they ought to head over that way. But in fact, once they'd all gathered into a group, they thought better of it, and started heading towards me, casually at first, but soon more rapidly. Did they think I might have food, or were they trying to scare me off? And, they were all steers, and was one of them a bull?

I rather fancied being on the other side of a fence to these fellas. I was a long way from the fence I first climbed, and in any case the cattle were rapidly drawing around me to cut off that means of escape. I backed towards the only option I had left, a fence surrounding a large dam. Some of the steers snorted, shook their heads and pawed the ground - that wasn't good, surely?

I followed the fenceline all the way around the dam, the cattle following me all the way, until, on the far side, I jumped a fence into a run that would take me down towards the hash - until it opened onto the next paddock, with another herd of cattle. They were smaller than the ones I'd left behind, but just as interested in me, but in this case I could read that they were curious and hopeful for food, not aggressive. I walked through their paddock to the closest point to the hash, but it was still over in the other paddock, and the big steers had stampeded over from where I'd left them on the other side of the dam.

But by now I'd come to my senses. Cattle are not wild animals primed to defend their herd by force. They're domesticated farm animals, and they are used to humans - bringers of food! And no, that one I thought was a bull was not a bull.

A convenient gate led me into the steers' paddock and they parted ways as I walked towards the hash. What had I worried about? I grabbed a photo, and the cattle, realising I had no food for them, swiftly lost interest, and I walked back to my bike unmolested.