While staying at our cottage getaway, we took a walk in the evening along the local road. We came upon these young cattle who took a great interest in what we were up to. They ambled along behind us and when I stopped at their gate they gathered to look at us. We walked on up the road and after a while turned back to return to the cottage.
Again we stopped at the gate and I talked to them, then we carried on and I wondered if they’d follow. They stood and watched us and I laughed that they were too lazy to follow us any more. As we got further down the road they seemed to think it was a great joke and suddenly all of them started galloping across the paddock in a thunder of hooves. Some of them were bucking and playing as they ran! They came to a stand-still by the pond and then started walking sedately toward us. I talked to them a while longer and took their photos. The sky was gaining its sunset colour and the ginger animals glowed rich red. It was a sweet end-of-day experience.
Curious Cattle, Roxburgh East, Central Otago. New Zealand
Click on any photo to enlarge.
The curious cattle checking us out.
They watched our return, then decided to go for a gallop. See the tail in the air!
~ best if you click to enlarge the image
Here they’re ambling back to the fence to say hello to us again.
The ginger cattle stood out as the sky took on sunset colours.
A curious and entertaining herd 🙂
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2021)
Exploring Colour 
They probably though it was an event put on just to keep them entertained. I love how nosy cattle are – they used to stick their heads over the garden wall to watch us when I lived in the country as a kid. So curious! 🙂
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Yes, they sure like to keep an eye on things! And come to think of it, they do have nice eyes 🙂
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What fun, Liz, and a great end to your day! I had a good chuckle envisioning them having a joke on you then a stampede to see what you were up to.
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I guess not many people go for a walk along the road there. No footpath but the road’s quiet and it was ok wandering along the verge; the cattle seemed to think it was a big event lol!
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I often wonder what goes on in the minds of animals and other wild creatures and how they perceive us. Are they curious? What motivates them? Do cows play around just for the fun of it? I was delighted by your description, Liz, of your encounter and the photos are wonderful. I love the beautiful ginger color of some of the cows and the white faces on two of them make me smile.
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Glad you enjoyed this Mike! The cattle were lovely. The biggest white-face animal was definitely boss. Saw the big one turn around and face-off a smaller black animal that had evidently breached the acceptable ‘personal space’ boundary! 😀
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No doubt they found you equally entertaining
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I guess so Sheree.. we caused quite a stir! 😀
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Cattle are curious, aren’t they. Friendly too. Glad that you had this moooooving experience, Liz. 😀 Sorry
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Hahaha! 😀 Any cattle we see are usually pretty friendly, I think they enjoy an interruption to their usual routine!
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What a sweet account of a sweet encounter. I can just smell them, having been brought up on a farm, your description brings back lots of memories. Glad you had a lovely end to what sounds like a perfect stay over for your birthday.
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Thanks Kay! Where we stayed had a black lab named Betty, a cat, and 3 chooks. The lifestyle block next door had 10+ goats, and some sheep. And then these cattle, further up the road. Lots of birdsong too, especially early morning and in the evening. Just lovely!
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