Huge traffic jam in town yesterday!

How on earth can a few cows cause such a problem in a fairly rural area. Here in the UK, hundreds of cows are swapping fields and going off to the milking sheds every day, not to mention, those who just fancy an afternoon stroll.

We only live 7 miles from central London, but we still have to share the roads with horses

 

We have horse and carriage in our central towns and they don't cause a problem. I think it's heaps cute these cows were just blahzay walking about, having an adventure of their own, could care less about honking cars behind them.

 

no one?....not one person can count higher than 4 in the entire town?....

 

Only the cows know!

 

One guy can... but he always skips the number two. So it's highly inaccurate.

 

We had a huge traffic jam once... it was a Zebra... only one Zebra but it was in downtown Atlanta on the interstate.

 

In the UK, you can loose your licence for honking an animal, particularly horses or larger animals being moved by a farmer who could get trampled if you spooked them.
In Jane's home town, donkeys are the worst. they just sit down in the road as if they own it. Some villages are inaccessible to normal cars and if you are lucky (and have a few carrots with you), you may be able to hitch a ride and arrive in style. the rules of the road are also somewhat strange. If you get stopped by the police, you just shrug your shoulders and say "I have been doing this for years".

 

That is so funny, But we did have a similar problem here once when a farmer left the sheds open and hundreds of turkeys went for a stroll along the adjacent motorway.

 

There are roads in scotland and in some areas of Yorkshire where there are traffic signs to tell you to beware of animals on the road. Springtime is shit because the lambs have no concept of the danger and just cross. 5 mile an hour is the safest bet! I absolutely love the way some of the more mature animals just stop mid road and defy you to come any closer!

 

That sounds very charming.

We have rural area around where I live but most of the fenced pastures do a good job of containing the small numbers of animals kept.

Once there was a big cow in the middle of the two-lane highway where the speed is posted at 55 mph and people usually go much faster.

I called the police and reported it but the dispatcher was in disbelief. I believe she thought I was drunk.

Apparently, the dispatcher was new to a rural setting.

 

Have you ever come across a donkey in the road.?
On one rural pass in West Cork a donkey sits in the middle of the road and operates his own toll booth.

That will cost you 2 carrots please.

 

How sweet!

I love donkeys and have always dreamed of having one.

There are 3 donkeys down the highway from me. They stay in the pasture to protect the horses.

Thankfully, I've never known them to escape the fence. People go so fast on the highway (two-lane).

 

I bet it goes wrong a few times a year there as well. Its the same here with cattle animals: they have to relocate all the time. Most of the time it all goes well, every once in awhile a car driver has bad luck/timing and has to wait. Or a bunch of cows escape their field and causes upheaval on the public roads. Happily not that common. If it happened regularly in MeAgains area it wouldn’t have made the paper

 

I wouldn't be concerned about the cows - I'd be more concerned about the patties they leave behind.

 

^
I know of a cow patty induced car accident. Small country road with a ditch on either side (im in the Netherlands ). Cattle was relocated so cow shit all over the road where they crossed. A friend with a little haste slipped on it and landed in ditch. No one got seriously hurt

 

Most of the donkeys in Ireland (Jane's home country) are wild. They are a protected species.
In remote areas where roads are impassible to cars, locals use them as a taxi service or just to carry their heavy shopping. They have plenty of grass to eat, but carrots are a real treat for them.
The picture that I posted was from Google, but the same has happened to us on several occasions.

 

I have been caught a few times (mainly in Ireland). Locals know the times that farmers are herding the animals and just laugh at the misfortunes of us poor visitors .
Jane's home town has a cattle market and on market days part of the town center is closed to traffic. Local farmers still bring their animals to market on foot.
The only really chaotic incident was the one that I mentioned earlier where hundreds of turkeys escaped onto the motorway. It happened in the 1970's and made headline news all over the UK. I was told that it was also screened in America.