On Saturday we were walking to the Font de la Vermosa, which is the spring flowing into the water-trough behind the cow on the right. Most of the rivers this high in the mountains are dry after the hot summer, so I suppose I should have anticipated the cows would be here. Normally I would have no problem walking thru and pushing them aside, these are farm cattle, shown by the ear tags and the bells. They spend the winter in cow sheds and are used to people. But I had a dog with me and that's a different matter. Jasper, courageous friend, had been first to encounter these animals, but had now stationed himself 3 meters behind me and was barking furiously. That's what they're looking at.
I read once that cattle are the third most deadly animals in England, after dogs and bees. About half the people they've killed since the 1950's were farmworkers, the rest being hikers and walkers. Of those, all except one were accompanied by one or more dogs. So, time to turn round and return from whence we came. No great problem, just behind us was a big patch of black liquid mud, so Jasper got his drink and a cooling bath as well.
