Livestock on the road

[Glenn A]

I remember following a friend, there were eight of us heading up to go horse riding in North Wales, and there were a lot of sheep on the road. Me, the more country driver, stopped the car and waited for the shepherd to clear. He hit the horn. Nothing was broken on his car, but there were a few hoof print dents on the bonnet.

Sheep are ones I really tend to avoid. Part of it is I suspect growing up in a dairy area I had more experience dealing with cows on the road. But also sheep are less predictable, often give the impression of having the IQ of a root vegetable, and although sheep often have a suicide wish, ewes with lambs can be vicious in order to protect them from a perceived threat. They will attack where a cow with a calf is more likely to put herself in the way and stare you down, bovines have a size difference over most of predators if the predator is on its own. Sheep don't.

Sheep can cause a fair amount of damage to vehicles as well. I can remember a car in the Yorkshire Dales where the sheep roamed free suffering a broken bumper where it hit a sheep, which was bleeding where it had been hit and was most likely dead or dying. More recently, I was a on a Pacer on the Tyne Valley line where a sheep was killed at 60 mph, and the train had to be assessed at Haltwhistle. Apart from a load of jam and wool that had to be cleaned from the train and some bad scratches, the train could continue to Hexham where it would terminate and be towed away for further inspection.

[vlad]

In an average year there are between 42,000 and 74,000 collisions that involve deer and motor vehicles and the deer rarely come out of the incident well....

If we're talking about deer then I raise you the A513 and the other roads across Cannock Chase.

They have done something to reduce deer running out into the road unexpectedly: posts like this one have been placed at regular intervals alongside the road. I'm not entirely sure how they work but they either reflect light into the woods or else produce light themselves and that persuades the deer to go elsewhere. They do work apparently!

[Owain]

Sheep are ones I really tend to avoid. Part of it is I suspect growing up in a dairy area I had more experience dealing with cows on the road. But also sheep are less predictable, often give the impression of having the IQ of a root vegetable, and although sheep often have a suicide wish, ewes with lambs can be vicious in order to protect them from a perceived threat. They will attack where a cow with a calf is more likely to put herself in the way and stare you down, bovines have a size difference over most of predators if the predator is on its own. Sheep don't.

The real danger with sheep in the Forest of Dean is that - because they are naturally inclined to follow each other - when you see one walk out from the trees, you never know if another will be following it. And during the lambing season, of course, the lambs will inevitably follow their mothers.

Sheep can cause a fair amount of damage to vehicles as well. I can remember a car in the Yorkshire Dales where the sheep roamed free suffering a broken bumper where it hit a sheep, which was bleeding where it had been hit and was most likely dead or dying. More recently, I was a on a Pacer on the Tyne Valley line where a sheep was killed at 60 mph, and the train had to be assessed at Haltwhistle. Apart from a load of jam and wool that had to be cleaned from the train and some bad scratches, the train could continue to Hexham where it would terminate and be towed away for further inspection.

As discussed here, a sheep can do a lot more than damage a bumper! The Cortina MkIV I recall being written off had its nearside front corner completely rounded off, the headlamp squashed right back into the crumpled bonnet and wing.

[roadtester]

There are plenty of free-roaming sheep in the Forest of Dean, due to ancient common land users' rights, which still exist in certain parts of Britain because we never had the French Revolution.

When I learnt to drive, a vital skill was keeping your eyes peeled for livestock. Obviously there were deer as well as sheep. Nowadays there are wild boar down there as well.

Don't hit them. I've seen how impact with a sheep can give a previously square Ford Cortina a surprisingly rounded appearance.

There are plenty on the North Yorkshire moors, Swaledale Sheep are quite happy to eat bracken.


The problem we had in South Cambridgeshire were the deer especially the fallow deer which can be anything between 40kg and 80kg and they seemingly appear out of nowehere, this road was very dangerous when they were moving from one territory to another.

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.1483535 ... &entry=ttu

Often the first you knew they were there was they came straight though the undergrowth, one problem is that keeping the numbers down by shooting is no longer acceptable. I havent seen any wild boar but badgers have a habit of undermining roads with their setts which can lead to roads being closed.

Miniature muntjacs are an especially annoying risk.

[multiraider2]

I forgot to mention that one of the first hazards I ever encountered after passing my test in 1982 was a flock of geese in Days Lane at the back of Pilgrims Hatch. I think from memory about here. They were not about to back down or clear the way. No sir! I backed up to get more speed to "encourage" them to vacate the road. Nope. Just kept advancing towards the car. I was only going on an exploratory journey because I now could, so I turned around and explored somewhere else.

[exiled]

Sheep are ones I really tend to avoid. Part of it is I suspect growing up in a dairy area I had more experience dealing with cows on the road. But also sheep are less predictable, often give the impression of having the IQ of a root vegetable, and although sheep often have a suicide wish, ewes with lambs can be vicious in order to protect them from a perceived threat. They will attack where a cow with a calf is more likely to put herself in the way and stare you down, bovines have a size difference over most of predators if the predator is on its own. Sheep don't.

The real danger with sheep in the Forest of Dean is that - because they are naturally inclined to follow each other - when you see one walk out from the trees, you never know if another will be following it. And during the lambing season, of course, the lambs will inevitably follow their mothers.

Sheep can cause a fair amount of damage to vehicles as well. I can remember a car in the Yorkshire Dales where the sheep roamed free suffering a broken bumper where it hit a sheep, which was bleeding where it had been hit and was most likely dead or dying. More recently, I was a on a Pacer on the Tyne Valley line where a sheep was killed at 60 mph, and the train had to be assessed at Haltwhistle. Apart from a load of jam and wool that had to be cleaned from the train and some bad scratches, the train could continue to Hexham where it would terminate and be towed away for further inspection.

As discussed here, a sheep can do a lot more than damage a bumper! The Cortina MkIV I recall being written off had its nearside front corner completely rounded off, the headlamp squashed right back into the crumpled bonnet and wing.

As herding prey animals the same can be said for cows and deer, with those two generally being much heavier and will really damage your car. Cows and deer tend to be brighter in their interactions with cars than sheep, but only because when you are comparing them with an animal with the IQ of a root vegetable, they are going to come out better.

[swissferry]

In an average year there are between 42,000 and 74,000 collisions that involve deer and motor vehicles and the deer rarely come out of the incident well....

If we're talking about deer then I raise you the A513 and the other roads across Cannock Chase.

They have done something to reduce deer running out into the road unexpectedly: posts like this one have been placed at regular intervals alongside the road. I'm not entirely sure how they work but they either reflect light into the woods or else produce light themselves and that persuades the deer to go elsewhere. They do work apparently!

https://www.deeraware.com/cannock-chase ... roject/614

[Ruperts Trooper]

Deer whistles are cheap enough and are claimed to warn animals by using frequencies outside the human hearing range - I used to fit one to each of my Cavaliers and never hit one - mind you I haven't hit one in cars without the whistle so maybe they're snake oil!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/deer-whistles- ... s+for+cars

[Vierwielen]

In the 1970's I went on a safari in Botswana. WHile our vehicle was travelling parallel to a river at about 40 km/h though a fairly densly wooded area when an elephant put it s head out of the trees and then retreated. WE stopped and then a herd of elephant (possibly 200 in total) crossed the road to go into the hills for the night. In case people have not seen an African elephant, its back would be about level with an upstairs window of an average UK semi. If your vehilce hit an elephant, the vehicle woudl probably be damaged. If you annoyed the elephant, your vehicle would be badly damaged!

[Glenn A]

Cattle are quite inquisitive and I've encountered a few when they're being herded across a road that will stare into your car and start licking the windows and let out the odd moo. I think so long as they're not bulls or some continental breeds like Limousins that are nasty and your car is stationary, they'll move on after having a look inside your car. Also I have got out at places like Burgh Marsh to look across the Scotland, and since these are dairy cows with no calves, they don't bother you.
Another place where our mooing friends like to wander is Rickerby Park in Carlisle, but these are fenced in to prevent them deciding to take a wander on Eden Bridge. These are cross bred beef animals, usually heifers without calves, and are placid enough.

[chriscumbria]

Also the A66 near Keswick used to have a cattle crossing with warning lights in the eighties and nineties, where at 6am one morning I was brought to a halt by a farmer crossing the road with his Friesian cows to be milked. Cows being cows they had a habit of standing in the road and looking into the stopped cars.

I must admit I'd never noticed that the cows pelican crossing had gone, I'm sure it was there later than that. When I was young I used to joke to my dad did the cows have to stop, press their hooves on the button, wait for the red cow to go and the green cow to come on.

[Chris Bertram]

Also the A66 near Keswick used to have a cattle crossing with warning lights in the eighties and nineties, where at 6am one morning I was brought to a halt by a farmer crossing the road with his Friesian cows to be milked. Cows being cows they had a habit of standing in the road and looking into the stopped cars.

I must admit I'd never noticed that the cows pelican crossing had gone, I'm sure it was there later than that. When I was young I used to joke to my dad did the cows have to stop, press their hooves on the button, wait for the red cow to go and the green cow to come on.

I genuinely have no idea of the answer to this, but can cows see in colour?

[freebrickproductions]

Also the A66 near Keswick used to have a cattle crossing with warning lights in the eighties and nineties, where at 6am one morning I was brought to a halt by a farmer crossing the road with his Friesian cows to be milked. Cows being cows they had a habit of standing in the road and looking into the stopped cars.

I must admit I'd never noticed that the cows pelican crossing had gone, I'm sure it was there later than that. When I was young I used to joke to my dad did the cows have to stop, press their hooves on the button, wait for the red cow to go and the green cow to come on.

I genuinely have no idea of the answer to this, but can cows see in colour?

Per a quick Google search, it appears that cows are red-green colorblind, but can see yellow and blue and shades of those two that trend more towards green.

[Owain]

I must admit I'd never noticed that the cows pelican crossing had gone, I'm sure it was there later than that. When I was young I used to joke to my dad did the cows have to stop, press their hooves on the button, wait for the red cow to go and the green cow to come on.

I genuinely have no idea of the answer to this, but can cows see in colour?

Per a quick Google search, it appears that cows are red-green colorblind, but can see yellow and blue and shades of those two that trend more towards green.

When I was a child my father - who is a biologist - told me that the whole 'red rag' thing is nonsense, because bulls can't see red.

[exiled]

I genuinely have no idea of the answer to this, but can cows see in colour?

Per a quick Google search, it appears that cows are red-green colorblind, but can see yellow and blue and shades of those two that trend more towards green.

When I was a child my father - who is a biologist - told me that the whole 'red rag' thing is nonsense, because bulls can't see red.

The red cloak used in bull rings is really to hide the blood, the bulls are going for the movement not the colour. IIRC in mammals it is the apes, so humans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans (ook) that see in colour. Birds also IIRC see in colour. And both groups that comes at the expense of a sense of smell.

[Glenn A]

Also the A66 near Keswick used to have a cattle crossing with warning lights in the eighties and nineties, where at 6am one morning I was brought to a halt by a farmer crossing the road with his Friesian cows to be milked. Cows being cows they had a habit of standing in the road and looking into the stopped cars.

I must admit I'd never noticed that the cows pelican crossing had gone, I'm sure it was there later than that. When I was young I used to joke to my dad did the cows have to stop, press their hooves on the button, wait for the red cow to go and the green cow to come on.

They used to appear between 5 and 6 in the morning and 6 and 7 at night for milking, but the cattle crossing has long gone now.

[Owain]

I did once turn up for work at Lancaster University to find a couple of cows in the car park. One was standing in a space as though parked, and was relieving itself on the tarmac.

I went to the security lodge to let them know that the cows were there, and I was a bit surprised to be told "Don't worry, they won't hurt you."

I replied, "I know they won't hurt. I just thought the farmer might want them back."

I've always found it a bit odd in the North (and Northern Ireland) that if you have a southern English accent, people seem to think you're from a big city and have never seen a cow. There aren't many big cities in the South, but there are plenty of cows!

[swissferry]

I did once turn up for work at Lancaster University to find a couple of cows in the car park. One was standing in a space as though parked, and was relieving itself on the tarmac.

I went to the security lodge to let them know that the cows were there, and I was a bit surprised to be told "Don't worry, they won't hurt you."

I replied, "I know they won't hurt. I just thought the farmer might want them back."

I've always found it a bit odd in the North (and Northern Ireland) that if you have a southern English accent, people seem to think you're from a big city and have never seen a cow. There aren't many big cities in the South, but there are plenty of cows!

Spotted some cows as I walked passed a hotel car park (they were quite hard to miss). Called in to reception and asked if they were aware of the cows in their car park. They weren't. They thanked me for letting them know and immediately phoned the farmer - it wasn't the first time it had happened.

[multiraider2]

One place where you often get free-range cattle rather than sheep is on Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons between Stroud and Cirencester. The roads that cross the common are all unclassified, but some of them are ruler-straight and until around the turn of the century they were NSL, and 60 was definitely possible even if not advisable. There was a steady trickle of accidents involving people driving too fast and hitting the cows. They reduced the speed limit (and enforced it) and also tried various ways of making the cows more visible, like putting hi-viz jackets on them.

Minchinhampton cattle made the news today on the BBC website. As here

[FosseWay]

I don't remember seeing Highland cattle when I lived there - they were mostly standard dairy Frisians.

And describing Minchinhampton as a "town" is a bit of a stretch...