Close Encounters Of The Bovine Kind....

A final post from my Alpine Adventures series....

So.... it's the first day of our hiking holiday and we're about ten minutes into our first of many uphills to come, up a steep and narrow forest path. It's raining lightly, but we're sheltered among the trees....  

We hear them, long before we see them. The soothing melody of cow bells, echoing down the mountain.


Oh look! It's a lovely cow with a cowbell!! Got to get a photo of that!

Ahhh, such a cute looking cow.... hang on! She does seem to be moving a lot closer to us. In fact, she's on the run....

Mad French cow! Madder than a box of frogs

Two minutes later, said mad cow has me backed into a large and very prickly bush, with nowhere to hide. Her head down, horns aimed at my stomach, and I'm contemplating a painful death by goring... believe me, female cows have massive great bastard horns on them too!....and highly peeved that I've not even made it past the first hour of the first hike.

Lick! Lick! Euuuuuch! All she wanted to do was give a big fat slobbery lick with her enormous rough tongue!

The first of many bovine encounters that week... fortunately, none as formidable as that one....

Keeping a safe distance!

Thirsty cow - possibly mad too

Italian cow - less formidable than her French counterparts!

Silly cows!

This one had no beef with me!