Close Encounter With a Mad Cow

Now, back to my story . . . When we first landed on the island and surveyed our surroundings, we had noticed a herd of cattle grazing quite a ways away from us. So what? Who's afraid of cows, right?

We set out on a walk, paying no attention to the cows that we were walking toward. We were simply intent on reaching the other end of the island, as we walked, talked, and enjoyed ourselves in this special place. The herd of cows was nowhere near us, and we had not noticed that one cow was apparently stalking us--keeping an ever-watchful eye on us as we came into her territory.

Suddenly, she charged right at us, but stopped just a few feet away from us. Her face (especially her eyes) and her stance told us she was not happy with us! Yet, we had done nothing to provoke her! Larry and Jim managed to shoo her away, and we continued walking further away from her, more toward the woods on the other side of us. Although we thought she would calm down once we moved further out of her territory, she only seemed to become more agitated and determined to charge at us. She did this several times, and each time Jim and Larry worked hard at scaring her away from us, even throwing sticks and stones at her. However, she was not about to be deterred, and finally charged us one more time in the most fearsome way yet, getting very close to us--stopping just short of being within arm's reach. It was at that moment I thought sure I would be killed on the spot. It seemed to me that she was looking straight at me. I cried out to Larry and clung to his arm, as he and Jim broke away from Patti and me, and charged the cow. She finally moved back away from us and we continued our walk, totally shook up!

A few minutes later, when I finally gained enough courage to turn and look back, I saw her come out of the woods with a tiny calf at her side. My trembling heart melted at the sight. She was simply a distraught, new mama, concerned for the safety of her new baby.
Isn't that just what any good mother would do for her child?
What a joy to realize the reason for her strange behaviour toward us!

More about this island get-away tomorrow night . . .