Oregon cattle rancher killed by cow

[myersfarm]

please be careful


An Oregon cattle rancher died after being tossed by a cow that became loose in the parking lot of the Eugene Livestock Auction. The Register-Guard reports that Mervin McCarl landed head-first on the pavement after being tossed into the air by one of the animals. The animal was one of three cows that got loose as they were being loaded into a truck about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, says livestock auction owner Bruce Anderson.




While accidents will always happen and there’s no indication that poor animal handling was exercised in this tragic incident, it does underscore the importance and need of being aware and careful when working around livestock. Animal behaviorist and facilities designer Temple Grandin offers these pointers on working around animals. And, Nebraska DVM Dave Sjeklocha offers his thoughts on good animal handling tips here.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by myersfarm

Animal behaviorist and facilities designer Temple Grandin offers these pointers on working around animals. And, Nebraska DVM Dave Sjeklocha offers his thoughts on good animal handling tips here.

ummm, no they don't.....

That said I've had at least 2 neighbors killed by cattle, one by a milking shorthorn cow with a new calf, and one by a beef steer.

I've been savaged by cows numerous times. I've learned to not turn my back to them and usually carry a large stick.

[rancher1913]

I always have a second person handy when I tag the new borns, thats the only time my cows get testy. still never let your guard down.

[gone-a-milkin]

I dont go around cows w/o a stick in my hand. Period.

I prefer a light fiberglass post, like for running temp e-fence.
Mine has a piece of rubber inflation slipped on the end for a handle.

The last bashing I took was from a cow rushing though a pipe gate. I was on the other side of the gate, but it swung past its normal range.
Hit me <crack!> on the bridge of the nose.
2 black eyes.

[Tad]

Our dairy cows are handeled all the time and are usually great around people, right now I trust them all out in the pasture but we have had a few over the years that I knew to watch out for. Most ended up leaveing for that reason, the one that put her poll under my rib cage and smashed me into a post when we were letting them out was the worst. SHe had my feet a good 2 feet off the ground, a few weeks later I was letting them out and my sister was herding them down the alley and I saw her being snuck up on and got over the tie rail fork handle in hand in time to crack the cow right across the nose about two feet behind her. Welcome to McDonalds may I help you! Always the white cows!

[willow_girl]

Always the white cows!

I have heard that before, but it's been my personal observation that while white cows are more flighty, the really ornery ones are predominantly black.

I had a cow go after me once in the close-up pen (and she was not even the mother of the new calf!). Luckily my boss happened to be there; otherwise she probably would have broken my ribs, or worse.

One of the herds I tested had a very nasty, VERY aggressive heifer! I honestly have never seen anything like this cow before or since. She was downright scary. She was only there for 2 tests, then left the herd ... whew ... I was glad. It was nerve-wracking for me because it was a double-30 parlor; I'd be trying to get the numbers of the cows they had just run in, all the while keeping an eye out to make sure she wasn't in the group that had just been released.

[copperhead46]

When we took my sister to the emergency room after a cow smashed her face in, the er doctor said she was the 4th case that month of "cow" attacks. I have Dexters, and they are a very docile breed, but I keep a close eye on them. especialy when they have babies.
P.J.

[mamahen]

One time we bought & brought home a 3 week old white park steer calf. We couldn't even unload him...he was charging us in the trailer!

Not a mock charge, he was slamming full force the side of the trailer. We called the seller and while he didn't want to take him back, he did. There was no way we could've safely handled him. He was pawing, slamming & ramming so hard, the trailer was rocking. I've never, ever seen such a young calf be soooo mean!

They even said he was "tame".

[neal68]

if handled correctly from day 1 there should not be too much of a problem

[Shrarvrs88]

my step dad is a cattle rancher here in OR, when i was a kid he had two cows you had to watch...one was whiote, the other black. Once when they were being bred, he went up into the pasture where the bull was, and the bull chased him off the cliff. Not a big cliff thank goodness, and he was able to hang on, but scary.

[SFM in KY]

I grew up on a cattle ranch in Montana. We had several cows we milked, as did some of the neighbors (not dairy cows, just mostly Hereford or Shorthorn stock that gave more milk than the usual range cow) so I've been around cows that were not handled and cows that were ... as well as bulls.

I've never trusted bulls at all and Angus bulls were by far the worst. We had a few that even my Dad would not walk in the corral with unless he was carrying a pitchfork. We didn't have any Angus cows, so can't say about their disposition except the only cow that ever charged me horseback was an Angus cow.

My first cow was out of one of the ranch Hereford cows but being a kid, I got to play with her from the time she was weaned and she was absolutely easy to get along with. I also had a Guernsey milk cow years later that was really a nice, gentle cow and never had a problem with her. Otherwise, I've been around too many range beef cattle to ever trust a cow completely ... some are fine, some aren't ... and some that you may think are fine can be set off by some odd event you'd never expect.

[Tad]

My grampa got chased up a tree by a hiefer once, stood there pawing the ground for almost an hour before my uncle found him. She went in the freezer, he sat there eating his steak saying "teach you to chase me up a tree!"

[ErinP]

Originally Posted by gone-a-milkin

I dont go around cows w/o a stick in my hand. Period.

We call it "carrying weaponry."

I don't worry about them in the pasture. Unless they have calves on them that is. In which case, they get a wide berth and I watch them the whole time.
But the more they feel you're crowding them, the more dangerous it is.

I prefer a fiberglass stick, too. Something light enough I can wield comfortably, but enough of a swing and you can really give a good Whack!

[Karen in Alabam]

Alright, you guys are scaring me.

The previous bull in our pasture (not ours but was sold this summer), black angus was a pretty good bull. He was not aggressive or mean, but got to the point where he thought he should dominate me. He was 1400lbs and he and the girls would all come running when they saw me, looking for hand outs. I didn't like to see him come running. I used to go for walks around the pasture, but stopped because of him or made sure there was trees around if I had to go near him to hide behind.

But now that the cows are mine, we have his son as the main bull now and he is more passive than the cows.

My concern will be when Maggie or Yo (my Jerseys) have babies. Do you recommend them being taken completely away or sharing with them?

Also, I have a young bull calf (6 months old). He has a mother, but for the past few months because he was so small and didn't look like he was getting enough from his mother, I started feeding him while I am milking. He gets his own bucket and the last month or so I have been dumping in some milk with his feed. (His father was the 1400lb bull)

He was always very skittish, but he now wants to head butt me while I am taking his bucket down off the wall. I stop him by putting my hand on his head and yelling at him. He actually let me pet him recently also.

This morning while I was milking he finished up his breakfast and comes over sniffing me (he has done this before), but today he starts trying to pull the hood off my coat and got a hold of my hair a little, even tried to gently push me over.

Is he going to be a problem when he gets older?

He is destined for the freezer anyway, but he is still a baby and would like to wait a couple of years before that comes.

[myersfarm]

Is he going to be a problem when he gets older?

He is destined for the freezer anyway, but he is still a baby and would like to wait a couple of years before that comes.


YES ..if it is ok for him to do that at 6 month to him why not at 2 1/2...I would get a stick and anytime he got within the length of stick I would hit him....he needs to respect your space unless you go to him which you need to stop petting

[mamahen]

Never, ever turn your back on any cow/calf/bovine! Even heifer calves may jump you or your children. This is not a mean behavior, but dominance or hormones.

Your little bull is testing to see how much he can get away with. Better a little skittish, than bowling you over. I try to aim for the nose when correcting. And don't mess with or push on their forehead area, espeacially if they are horned. Because you aren't!

Don't be scared, but be CAUTIOUS!

[chewie]

bull whips are named well. never EVER turn your back on a bovine. another reason i choose goats to milk. i got tossed last fall by a friend's cow. just trying to move her to another pen and she took after me. i had nowhere to go (huge mistake on my part, i know better than that) and she knocked me down good. i was very scared she'd continue to grind me into the dirt with her head (i've seen them drop to their knees to get their head down further) but she ran off since the husband came to help. i am not fond of cows, cept with gravy.

[Tad]

One of my college teachers worked on a farm in Florida before he came back to NY. The owner had a dog that saved his life when I bull had him pinned to the ground, came up and gave the bull enough to think about while he got away. He said if you went any where with the owner the dog sat on the front seat and you went in the bed of the truck.

[glenn amolenaar]

Karen,
What you are telling about is an accident wating to happen. People tend to forget these "cute babies" are the ones that KILL people any dairy or part dairy bull that are hand raised are the most dangerous reason is people think they are cute and will never hurt them. This makes them loose respect and will get you when you least expect it.
Glenn

[Karen in Alabam]

the calf is all angus, and I will start correcting him.

The comment about the dog. My lab walks me to the pasture, but doesn't often stay. He does come running and barking when he hears me yelling at them. They (the rest of the cows)follow me out (from milking) waiting for their feed and crowd the gate. I start shouting at them to "Git" and the dog comes running and barking at them to get away from me.