Where have all the cows gone?

We miss our cattle. They’re such lovely docile creatures pleasant to be around. In Sai Kung they are iconic, embodying the friendliness of the district. But we haven’t seen them for sometime. Where have all the cows gone?

It’s weeks since they have been in town. Unscientific opinion says in warm sunny weather they roam high in the hills and in bad weather they come down where we can see them. The girls are called Daisy and the boys Burt. Daisy has been seen standing in the middle of the road outside McDonald’s ruminating as she chews her cud. Drivers manoeuvred carefully around her. Burt was once photographed by an alert SAI KUNG BUZZ reader half in the door of the Jockey Club betting shop. Did he want a Mark Six ticket or was he enjoying the air conditioning?

The Ag & Fish Department did something clever. They swapped Sai Kung’s cattle and Lantau’s cattle. The reasoning was, the bovines have learned naughty behaviour in one district, so let’s move them to an unfamiliar area where we hope they will behave themselves. Haha.

Despite the obvious docility of cattle there are townies who are frightened of them. So our ever-loving Government puts messages on buses telling dumbclucks how to respond when they see a cow. DON’T PANIC!

Often herds of Daisies and Burts are seen on the main roads. They have been endangered on rare occasions by expletive drivers, a few times fatally. Sai Kung Bovid Watch campaigners Carol Biddell and Karina O’Carroll campaigned for speed cameras to be sited along the roads to deter fast driving.

There is some good news about our cows. Screw worm appears to be in retreat. This is a nasty fly-borne disease. In the bad old days many people who care about the cattle have seen them with bloody wounds caused by screw worm, also called fly strike. Bulls were seen with dreadful wounds between the anus and the testicles. Maggots were eating away their flesh. At least in my case, it is years since I have seen a case of screw worm. Every time I pass a herd of cattle, usually six to twelve of them, I look them over with an amateur eye to see if there are signs of illness. Recently they have all looked healthy and happy, except on race occasion when an elderly cow has been present.

Once jogging out on Yeung Shue O Rd, the coastal one near Fathoms Cove, I came upon a heifer who had somehow fallen into the catchment. She could not get herself out and was trapped. I did not have the strength to lift such a large animal out of the catchment by myself. I ran back to Sai Sha Rd and flagged down a motorcyclist. With me clinging on the pillion seat we rode back to the far end of Yeung Shue O Road and together lifted the young cow out of the catchment.

Let’s hope that when the rainy weather starts our Daisies and Burts will come down from the hills and we can see them again lying on the grass among the trees in town. If they want to stand outside McDonald’s chewing the cud, that’s fine.

Karina O’Carroll of Sai Kung Bovid Watch comments. Her thoughts are endorsed by colleague Carol Biddell.

Well the first thing is the town cows are all senior males. Bachelors. That have chosen to stay together. Four of them now. There are no females in Sai Kung town.

They are up the back of Sha Kok Mei doing their usual routine and will be back on the waterfront in no time at all in the evenings. They just disappear for Winter and then are back and around again in spring / summer.

So just give it less than three weeks I reckon – and they’ll be back into their town routine!

Screw worm will be back in summer. It’s again just a seasonal thing. And if seen – we will get the vets to attend.

Putting in a general call for careful driving as always, particularly at dawn and dusk when they are most active would be appreciated.

And if any are seen on the roads or heading to the main roads – people can WhatsApp 67739907 and we’ll do our best to get them to safer areas!

And am hopeful the new speed cam we got finally put in – actually gets turned on ! 🙄

They are all generally fine in Sai Kung at this present moment – but a number are now entering their senior years, having watched them for over 15 now.

Hopefully old age takes them peacefully when it’s their time and not carnage from an impatient or speeding driver….

Anecdote –

Sitting with Cows – a wonderful book and initiative in Europe, how blessed we are to have our own Sai Kung version.

Sit with them, be still with them, be calm with them, and be quiet with them. They can take you away from the worries of the world (unless you’re SKBW volunteers and then manic running roadside keeping them safe still happens 😂🤦🏼‍♀️) and just bring a sense of calmness, if you take the time.

I can’t count the number of times spent in quiet observation with them, learning their personalities, mannerisms, family bonds and quirks and they are just as deserving as the dogs and cats in our homes – of kindness, calmness and care.

Please help us keep them around and safe – they really are just big(ger) grass puppies! 🐮

Thanks

Kaz