From: callison@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu (James P. Callison)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: Weapon for defense from cows
Date: 23 Nov 92 14:24:44 GMT
Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

In article <viking.722470302@vincent2.iastate.edu> viking@iastate.edu (Dan Sorenson) writes:
#callison@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu (James P. Callison) writes:
#
##Personally, I would suggest using the same thing ranchers do in tight
##quarters (like in the stock yards); either a bullwhip or the good, 
##old-fashioned non-lethal cattle prod.
#
#	I believe the cows he is talking about are not at all similar
#to the domestic cows I raised as a youth with regard to temperament.
#Those cattle prods were useful in persuading a cow to move up the
#loading chute, but should she feel boxed in and need to escape the
#prod was about as useful as teats on a bull.  I think Rodney King
#showed that electricity just don't stop an enraged person.  But, as
#range seems to be possible here, a taser or similar "long-range prod"
#might be a viable alternative.

I'm not talking about standing your ground and sticking the thing as it
rushes you; I'm talking about using the cover of the trees and gently
dissuading it from following you as it goes by. If a toreador can keep
out of the way of an enraged bull with nothing but a cape and a sword,
I think your average person could use a tree and a cattle prod to
dissuade an attack. (That is, you hide behind the tree and zap the
sucker as it goes by. I imagine that you'll be able to keep it up longer
than the bull/cow will keep charging.)

##Besides being a potential legal hassle, it's also a little bit cruel
##to kill a cow just because you got in its way....or is that too PC
##for you? :-)
#
#	That depends on what the cow does, IMHO.  My brother spent three
	<Cow-butting anecdotes deleted>
#forgave.  I'm such a nice guy, eh?  The legal hassle would involve your
#neighbor, too, as it was his animal running loose that caused the
#problem.  

Yeah. What I meant to say was that it was rather un-neighborly to
shoot the guy's cow (unless there was a real danger). Of course,
if it's a choice between eating expensive steaks or becoming a
large stain on the nice, clean dirt, you'd have no choice other
than to shoot.

#There are braided whips, about 5' long, available at tack
#shops.  With a little practice, you can snap them quite well and this
#is nearly as effective as the prod.  The short length is less likely to
#be tangled up in brush and trees.  I recommend against trying to climb a
#tree -- they move too darn fast for that, and if you're between a cow
#and a tree guess who gets squished?

I certainly wouldn't advise trying to climb the tree on the same side
as the cow; it's much better to stay on the ground and use the tree as
a shield, unless you can grab a low-hanging branch and swing yourself 
up fast. Since there wasn't a description of the trees, it's kinda
hard to say what to do, or what to use.

#	Since the description of the cows and their behavior isn't known
#exactly, and since experience is really the best teacher here, I'm
#just tossing out ideas -- I'll let the poster, his wife, and his
#neighbor decide what the best response is.

Absolutely--talk to the neighbor first and foremost. Although you
need to help maintain the fence (half of it's on your property if it
runs down the property line, and your well-being is at stake), it's
his responsibility to keep his livestock on his property--and he can't
do that unless he knows they're getting out (it also wasn't mentioned
how big the neighbor's spread was--in riding the fence, he may not get
around to where they're getting out very often).

#	[MODERATOR:  I keep having this vision of the Far Side cows reading
#	 our discussion in the morning paper over coffee, and one remarking
#	 to the other "Why Martha, these people are just so unCIVilized!"]

Yes, it's rather moo-ving, isn't it? :-P

				James

James P. Callison       Microcomputer Coordinator        OU Law Library 
Callison@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu   /\    Callison@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu
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DISCLAIMER: I'm not an engineer, but I play one at work...
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