View from a footpath in cattle country near Whixall

Image: © Jeremy Bolwell Taken: 8 Jul 2021

In the distance here I spotted a Hereford bull with one of his cow wives, disporting themselves. Though to be fair the dairy Friesian cow concerned showed some decorum and was having none of the bull's very direct advances; she jogged off, leaving him wasting his efforts to mount her repeatedly, much to his chagrin. He looked quite frustrated. In fact, as I got nearer he fixed his steely gaze on me and I wondered if he would take out his frustrations on me and chase me across the pasture, so I averted my eyes, put my camera away and stalked off faster to put some distance between me and the courtship. As I attained a safe distance I looked back and saw that the bull was wooing the cow a little more considerately and whispering sweet nothings in her large fly-swatting ear. I left them to it, sure that this approach would bear fruit.

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