Seems a bit far away from any farms
Local farmer Richard, appears to have his head screwed on. His herd are as close to a wild herd as our British farming system will allow which means they require less input from him.
Their welfare is paramount and they are cared for (medical treatments if necessary, worming etc) and checked regularly. However, they are outside all year round (so no need for housing), they need no supplementary feeding (except hay if snow-cover prevents grazing and nutritional energy blocks in winter) so essentially no food bills - at a guess they’re probably cheaper to keep than a couple of teenagers.
And I hear told that this means Richard gets to spend more time with his family, win win!
Ten years on
I think it is safe to say that the trial has gone well. There are now 3 herds with 34 cattle in total that range over 1000 hectares of land from the forest slopes to the valley bottom. They all have names apparently and at this point I felt if I ever saw one, I’d definitely want to be introduced!
But what’s wrong with sheep?
Sheep farming has a long tradition in the Lakes but the characterful short-legged cattle claim a Celtic heritage and in a less controlled environment you might expect a wider range of grazing animals to be present.
Cattle, unlike sheep, are less likely to access the higher slopes of the valley sides which means those areas are able to grow freely, providing more habitats for other plant and animal species. Or put another way, they’re more ‘terrain challenged’ than sheep.
I have to say though, my first sight of the black beasts was when I glanced up and saw a small gathering on the slopes above my head, quietly chewing and watching us. I clambered my way up to get closer to them, fearing this would be my only photo opportunity (I was wrong).
