Cornwall Day 6 (A Unique Creation)

Mostly the things we come across while walking in Cornwall are good things; pleasant, and nice, and interesting. This includes the people we meet, and their dogs. If there is a dog, one of us always says, "GREAT DOG!" and asks if he can pet them. They have always said YES. 

These people have always been interested in us enough to stop and talk, sharing what they are doing and asking us what we are doing. No one is ever doing the same thing. The paths we go on have many possible turnings, and people make decisions along the way about precisely where they wish to end up. When we need advice, they give it - and always smile. We always smile back. So you see, it is good, and pleasant, and nice.

But yesterday we came across something that made us sad, and I still haven't gotten over it. 

The stiles were so muddy and watery that my son went before me, scoping out the best/safest way to get me over. He suddenly stopped.

"What is it?"

"Something's stuck in here," he said.

"Stuck? What is stuck?" I became uneasy.

"Mom. I think it's a cow."

I crept closer (but not too close. One never knows about an animal in distress). It was certainly a cow, stuck (who knows how it did this) deep within the brush, and wriggling to try and get out. You can sort of see it in this photo, but it is hard to see because it is absolutely surrounded by the entrapping brush and trees. No matter how hard the cow tried to push her way out, forward and backward, it was never enough. 

Even approaching her would be too dangerous, so there was nothing we could do and no farmers around that we could tell. We walked quietly on, thinking of cows in general, and of this cow in particular. I had never seen one in this position. She was so big and so magnificent, so very beautifully white and black, in the perfect combination of those two. What a unique creation a cow is!

Nearing St Ives, we asked two local ladies what they thought. They were sorry to hear about the cow and thanked us for our concern, but said not to worry because the farmers keep tabs on their cattle, and come out to see them every day. The cows have identifying numbers on their ears and other places, and likely the farmer would discover the poor dear in time. 

This made sense and we felt a bit, a very little bit better.

The best thing would be fitting the cattle with a chip, don't you think? a tracking device, or some sort of 'beep' that goes off when a cow is distressed. Does anyone out there know of such things? Any farmers reading this thing right now?

Hello? Anybody out there?

See you along the way!

the SconeLady