The cows are at it again

You may remember a story I wrote back in January about cows attacking people in Colorado (if you don't you can click here to read it). In that story the lady was just injured by a cow that was protecting her calf. Now the cows in Britain are not only attacking, they're killing.

Four people have been trampled to death in the last two months while walking their dogs near grazing cattle in Britain's main farming area. In the last eight years, 18 people have been killed by cows or bulls in Britain. That's scary.

I know it's not a large number considering that Britain has 7.5 million cows but that's still a lot of people to me. I grew up around many different types of animals and have had first hand experience with cows but I never saw one get aggressive.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) said that "cows can become aggressive and charge, especially when calves are present and walkers are accompanied by dogs." Aren't dogs used to help herd cattle? I believe they are. I've even had a COW DOG in the past. Why would the cows suddenly become enraged by dogs? Maybe they're tired of having dogs nipping at their hooves and running circles around them. I don't know.

I do know that would be a horrible way to die; under the feet of a very large animal. My heart goes out to the people that lost their loved ones.

I also wonder if Britain has dog parks like we do here in America. I would think that would be a better place to walk your dog then in a field full of cows. I know I wouldn't be in that field.

I am a chicken

It seems there is an issue over who’s allowed to be on the trail used by late night skiers in Bangor Maine. The skiers say it’s them; an owl has a different opinion.

A great horned owl has apparently decided that East Trail in the Rolland F. Perry City Forest belongs to him. He’s attacked at least 8 skiers and several dogs over the past three weeks.

One skier, Jim Allen, said “…all of a sudden, I felt a whack in the back of my head and this stinging…” Luckily he had a thick winter hat on and that protected him from the bird’s talons. Other skiers haven’t been that lucky.

Dr. Dan Cassidy, a local physician, said he had treated three skiers for lacerations after they had also been attacked by the owl. The city has posted warning signs to alert skiers and hikers of the threat.

I don’t know about you but I think I’d postpone any skiing I had planned if it was in the near future. I’m just a big chicken though. And owls scare me. I know that sounds bad *lol* but they really do. All hunting, meat eating, long, sharp talon bearing birds scare me. On the other hand, if people do stop going in the area because of the owl, it may decide it’s a good place to stay. I don’t know for sure about any of that…except that I would be scared.

One afterthought... Stephen King is from Bangor Maine. Do I need to say more about where this story took my mind?

A news trio

I have three things that I want to talk with you about today and instead of writing three different posts, I decided to group them all together.

1. Former first lady Barbara Bush had heart surgery at The Methodist Hospital here in Houston yesterday. Last week she experienced a shortness of breath and went to her doctor. They discovered that her aortic valve had begun to harden and scheduled the surgery. As a true testament to her strength, a family spokesman said that she was talking from her intensive care bed just hours after the surgery. She should be released from the hospital in 7 - 10 days. Mrs. Bush also suffers from Grave’s Disease (as do I) which can cause heart issues. I pray she has a speedy recovery with no complications. She's 83.

2. Charla Nash, the woman who was brutally attacked on February 16th by her friend’s chimpanzee in Connecticut, is still in critical condition. She’s lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids and doctors don’t know if she’ll recover. Her brother said that she’s always been tough (on CBS’s Morning Show) and that he has hopes of a full recovery. The family has set up a website (which you can visit by clicking here) to accept donations to help pay for her care. Bless her heart, I hope she makes it.

3. Finally I’d like to tell you about a man in New Hampshire. Police say a 69 year old man became irate after being put on hold by the Social Security Administration. He says he called to find out where his check was because he had not received it and was put on hold for over 30 minutes. When somebody did finally get on the line he told them he was going to go to the Social Security office in Keene New Hampshire and kill the first person he met. The office was closed and the man was arrested. If you ask me I’d tell you that was an extremely dumb move. I can understand his anger having sat on hold longer than I’d like but I can not understand his threat. I mean really, come on, you’re going to KILL someone over a little inconvenience? That’s just not a normal reaction to me. I think he may need some help.

Well, that’s all I have for you today. I hope everyone is having a nice Thursday morning so far. I’ll see you soon.

Somtimes love leads to understanding and trust

On October 3, 2003, the magical performing team of Siegfried & Roy changed forever. It was on that day that one of their white tigers, a 7 year old male named Montecore, attacked and seriously injured Roy Horn.

According to Wikipedia, the tiger believed Roy was in danger. When a woman from the audience reached out to pet him, Roy jumped between the woman and the tiger and that’s when the trouble began.

After jumping between the woman and Montecore, the tiger bit into his arm and was ignoring his command to release. He hit the tiger with his microphone and was attempting to back up when he tripped over the big cats paw. Stagehands then leapt onto the tigers back in an attempt to restrain him. Former Mirage owner Steve Wynn said that it was at that time that Montecore thought his trainer was in real danger and took his neck in his mouth to drag Roy out of dangers way. They truly believe the cat was trying to help his master and not hurt him.

Roy also believed the tiger was not trying to hurt him and was even heard saying “Don’t shoot the cat!” on his way to the hospital. Doctors had to remove a portion of Roy’s skull to allow room for his brain to swell while healing. He suffered a stroke and partial paralysis. But he still never blamed Montecore.

After spending 10 days in quarantine to ensure he was not rabid, Montecore was allowed to return to his home at The Mirage. The show was ended.

Now a little over 5 years later the three performers took the stage for one final show. Roy Horn, Siegfried Fischbacher and Montecore performed together at a benefit for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health on Saturday. The center will treat brain disorders like the ones Horn now suffers from when it opens later this year.

After performing their illusion they stood silent with Siegfried standing between the tiger and Roy and blew kisses to the audience. An announcer said “Within all of us there is an illusive melody, which when heard and followed will lead you to the fulfillment of your fondest dreams.” The performance will be shown on a one-hour 20/20 special Friday. I’ll definitely be watching.

Is it safe to keep exotic animals in your home?

I am an animal lover. I’ve had many animals during my lifetime. They’ve all been pretty standard types of domesticated animals also known as pets. Dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, a couple of turtles and one time I had an ant farm although I’m not sure the ants would be classified as pets. They were just bugs in a glass case. I was fascinated by them though. They were creatures. They were alive. They controlled themselves. That’s always been cool to me.

The most exotic animal I’ve ever claimed as my pet is my turtle Henry. He’s a 20 year old snapping turtle; a Red-eared Slider to be precise. That’s a little exotic but not really. I have, however, known several people that owned truly exotic animals and I did have the opportunity to interact in one way or another with all of them.

One friend of mine had a mountain lion for 14 years. She was beautiful but very frightening. I threw her some food one time (raw meat) over the top of her cage and the noise she made while eating was what got to me. I felt it. It was this low, rumbling growl that shivered across the ground between us. I could see her teeth ripping through the meat like it was butter. There was no resistance at all. Her teeth just slid through the meat. It scared me. I had to go inside.

I remember asking my friend if she was ever scared of her big cat. She said that when she (the cat) was very young they kept her in the house. My friend came home earlier than her husband one day and the cat freaked out on her. My friend said when she came through the door all she saw was claws and teeth and all she heard was the cat growling. She ran for the nearest room (the bathroom) and slammed the door behind her. She was trapped in there for almost 2 hours before her husband came home. The cat continuously paced back and forth in front of the door, stopping to scratch every so often. The growling never stopped.

That was the last time their big cat was in their home. She became a permanent outside resident after that day. I can’t say I blame them. I doubt very seriously I would ever own an animal like that (I’d be too scared), but if I did I’m pretty sure it would be outside.

But then I think what kind of life is that for the animal? Locked in a pen being able to see the world but not explore it would be terrible. They have natural needs and natural instincts. I just don’t think that’s fair to them.

Now this is where I usually get a lot of flack from Tim. He’d say “They’re animals! Why are you worried about being fair? Yes, feed them. Yes, give them some place to get out of the rain and cold. But why worry about fair? They don’t know what fair means.” And he does have a valid point. If they had lived comfortably with everything they needed to survive then where’s the problem? That’s all they know. But I think somewhere deep down they do know they’re missing something. That instinct is always there just waiting for the day it can come out and be free.

I had actually been thinking about my friend and her mountain lion a little earlier this evening. I was watching Wife Swap and one of the families had several animals, one of which was an exotic bird. That’s where this whole thing started. And I had planned on writing a story about that cat and my friend on my Happy At Home blog. I got online just to do that very thing.

Of course I can’t come online without glancing over the headlines on my homepage. It’s impossible for me to not at least peek at them. That’s when I saw the story that brought my thoughts full circle.

The headline read ‘Police in Conn. Shoot chimp after it attacks woman’. I clicked on the link. I have to tell you what I read truly broke my heart.

The chimpanzee was 15 years old and had lived with the family basically as a child. They had trained him to use the toilet. He could dress himself after taking a bath, again by himself. He ate at the table like a person and used a Water Pik to brush his teeth. He was very smart. Smart enough that he had been used in commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola and had even appeared on the Maury Povich Show.

Nobody knows why the chimpanzee suddenly turned angry. A friend of his owner had come to visit and when she stepped out of her car the chimpanzee attacked. She suffered serious facial injuries and lost a large amount of blood.

The owner, desperate to stop the attack, grabbed a large butcher knife and stabbed her pet numerous times. The chimpanzee then ran away and began wandering around the property.

When police arrived they tried to capture the animal. He wasn’t having any part of it and attacked several of the officers causing them to get in their cars for safety. Having been raised riding in cars the chimp opened one of the doors and went after another officer. He shot the animal several times and he ran away again.

Police followed a trail of blood into the owner’s home. The chimpanzee had returned to his area inside the house and died.

I’m not going to try and pretend to be some kind of animal expert but I will tell you what I think. For whatever reason the chimpanzee saw the lady as a threat. His instincts kicked in and he attacked. Animals and humans both have different levels of pain that they can deal with and if they are frightened or angry that level goes up. He probably didn’t feel the stabs. Maybe he even thought he was just being hit. I’m sure he felt threatened by the police. The police were all wound up over a person being attacked (and rightly so) and emotions were running high. Animals can sense that. Dogs always know when I’m scared of them. When he was shot he knew he was going to die. (I don’t know how they know, but I believe animals do know when they are going to die. I’ve had several that disappeared when I thought they were close to their time.) He went back to his safe place to die.

It’s just heartbreaking to me. And it makes the feeling that we shouldn’t keep wild animals as pets grow even stronger in me. I feel so sorry for the lady that was attacked and I pray she recovers soon. And I feel sorry for the owner losing her longtime pet. But I also feel sorry for the chimpanzee that didn’t know he was a wild animal and had to die in such a horrible way.

It brings new meaning to Mad Cow

You’re casually riding your bike through a beautiful park in Colorado. You’re following the trail enjoying the scenery… Uh oh look out! There’s a killer cow!

It sounds crazy but it’s a true story. A lady was riding her bike through Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park when a cow crossed her path. She stopped, allowing the cow room to cross in front of her. The cow had other ideas. He knocked her off her bike and then stepped on her legs.

A park ranger found the woman injured on the path. She told him what had happened. The cow was searched for but had left the area by the time other rangers arrived. A warning to bikers and hikers was issued.

The open space of Marshall Mesa is leased by ranchers that use the land as a grazing area for their livestock. Witnesses that saw the attacking cow say it appeared to have an injured leg. The cows owner was notified.

Jason Vogel, vice president of the Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance, was quoted in a Daily Camera’s Boulder & county news story as saying this attack was “odd, rare and random” although there was another cow attack in the same area in 2003. In that attack a woman was rammed three times and her pelvis was fractured by a grazing momma cow that felt threatened by the cyclist that was too close to her calf for comfort (say that fast three times).

I adore cows. Seriously. If you have any doubt just look at my email address. That will show you how much of a cow lover I am. I’ve collected cow ‘things’ for years and have taken more than my share of pictures of them in fields and on farms.

I’ve never had one attack me though. No charging, angry cows tried to knock me over and then step on me. For a brief moment I thought “Well, maybe it was because of the baby…” but no, there have been plenty of calves present when I was around the cows I’ve come in contact with.

The lady in this bike attack just had a stroke of bad luck in my opinion. Call it cowincidence that this was the second cow attack in the area. Just an incidental ocowrence. Ok, ok. I’ll be good. I couldn’t help it. This story just mooved me.