Apparently there’s some television extravaganza going on this week that makes it seem as if the beach is a scary place where a shark could attack you at any moment. Don’t believe it. You want a dangerous place? I’ll show you a dangerous place. A farm.
It’s not just the little roosters. If you’re worried about being killed by an animal, fear the cow. The most recent CDC statistics show that between 2003 and 2007, at least 108 people were killed in cow-related incidents. The CDC report provides a chart describing some of these incidents, and they’re brutal.
In Kansas, a 74-year-old male cattle farmer was trampled to death by a bull he was moving from one pasture to another. A 45-year-old Iowa man was attacked and killed by a bull his family had bottle-fed. And in Missouri, a 65-year old woman was knocked down and stomped to death by a cow while removing a dead calf from a pasture.
If you want to avoid being killed by a cow, don’t tend or treat one in an enclosed area — those were the activities where the most cow-related fatalities occurred, and 24 percent of the people killed by cows during this period were herding, moving or sorting cattle when they met their demise.
Cows aren’t the only killer farm animal. In January, a camel trampled two people to death on a Texas farm, and in 2012, an Oregon farmer was eaten by his pigs.
This is no laughing matter. “Agriculture is among the most hazardous sectors for workers globally,” according to a 2013 study that examined injuries and fatalities on dairy farms, and livestock are the second leading cause of farm injury, just behind machinery. An examination of occupational injuries found 4600 bovine-related, 5100 equine-related, and 1900 porcine-related nonfatal injuries in the U.S. from 1992 to 1997.
If you don’t work on a farm, your chance of being killed by a cow are pretty low, assuming you don’t walk through areas with aggressive cows. If, by chance, you find yourself staring down an angry cow, the Popular Mechanics “Cow Attack Survival Guide” advises to get the hell out of there, however possible — “Don’t be afraid to kick, yell, punch, whatever.” Other tips include, grab a broom “to make yourself look taller.” What if you have a cow or bull that’s prone to violent outbursts? “Get rid of it,” the guide says. “Have a nice steak dinner. Invite your friends.”
Photo by Mick Stanic via Flickr
As a former zookeeper who has been attacked by an ostrich, a rhea, an ibex, a red deer, and a male camel in rut; my advice is always have a rake or shovel handy (I recommend heavy shovels for male camels)