Cattle on Road...
Submitted: Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 10:54
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Member - Royce
As I tour about Oz, many areas are unfenced and have stock grazing across the road. I've spent a few 'hairy' hours getting to
places I needed to be looking out for looming shapes ahead as the sun sets.
That's all good.
Down our road sections of the roadside are lightly fenced off with electric tape and cattle put out to graze during the day. Yesterday a lovely shorthorn cross cow wandered across the road ahead of me as I drove. The tape had dropped too low.
Okay... I knew to look out for them. There are no signs. Not good.
My other concern is that the roadside areas are the last strips of native grasses growing in this area. Kangaroo grass, wallaby grass, tussocks, blowfly grass. I'm not sure that it's appropriate for this area to be grazed.
Well... maybe I'm feeling the pinch as the feed drops off for my stock and I look at my roadside grass.... but I won't graze it.
I guess the day will come when stock on roads is no more? Thoughts?
Reply By: Ozrover - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 11:01
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 11:01
Royce,
I nearly collected a couple of them coming back from Alice in the truck a couple of month ago, they just wandered across the track in front of me.
I told my
young fella to go out & paint reflective lines on them, makes driving at night interesting out here!!
AnswerID:
398238
Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 13:17
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 13:17
Your response has struck me as no where near as silly as it sounds!
All cattle have NLIS tags now..... Why oh why when mustered aren't reflective tags or bands placed on cattle that are likely to be on the roadside??
Okay... I'm going to push this barrow.
Let's say a beast is worth $600 [but could easily be worth double that]......
Every outback station must lose one or two a year, that would easily cover costs.
Think about it.. I reckon Exploroz should promote this idea.
Just the ability to spot cattle at night when mustering or checking stock.
Damn! I'm going to do it to my cattle on Sunday when I get them in next.
I'm excited!
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Follow Up By: AlanTH - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 13:54
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 13:54
Reflective ear tags sound good to me after seeing a mob which had been hit by a truck in the night/early morning not far out of
Broome. At least 3 cattle dead and 2 struggling to get up and it looked as if one had a broken back and the other couldn't get out from under one of the dead cattle.
Not a pleasant sight and we couldn't find anyone to tell or a nearby
gate or track we could drive into a station to alert them.
Anything which could help drivers to see dark animals must be good for all concerned.
Alan.
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Follow Up By: Ozrover - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:33
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:33
A lot of cattle out our way don't get ear tagged until the next muster, might be three to six months between musters & they usually lose a couple when mustering (broken legs, necks etc..) & they rarely get all the cattle even when they do muster!
Reflective ear tags would seem to be the way to go but would take a long time to impliment, as
well adding cost to the exercise.
Next time I talk to the station owners/managers I'll ask them what they think of the idea, won't hurt eh!
Lots of little ones about near the roads as
well, always on the other side of the road to mum, then they have to run across the road in front of you to get back to her!
Just have to "drive to the conditions" & slow down so you can stop if necessary.
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Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 16:37
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 16:37
Every 3 to six months would be fine. At least a few would be reflective out of the mob. You could spot the reflection with a pair of good
driving lights from over a k away.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - John and Val - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 11:13
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 11:13
Hi Royce,
WE nearly collected a frisky cow somewhere in the
Pilbara last year - a timely reminder to always keep a
lookout for them (and others).
Theres a bit of a paradox around this issue. Some more remote areas are increasingly being fenced off - makes it harder to find a
bush camp. Meanwhile in more closely settled areas many of the travelling stock routes are being sold off as they are no longer used for that purpose. But they are often good areas of remnant vegetation and good camping spots, so it is a shame to see them let go. But I guess the days of droving cattle are pretty much gone thanks to road transport. But it really gives a true outback flavour when you do come across the occasional mob of cattle with drovers.
Cheers,
Val.
| J and V
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AnswerID:
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Reply By: Wilk0 - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 12:08
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 12:08
Hi Royce,
I almost collected a nice looking heifer near come by chance 3 years ago, who would have looked even better in my freezer lol.
You do have to look out for stock grazing on the long paddock but it will be a sad day if we ever lose our TSR's.
Cheers Wilko
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Beatit (QLD) - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 14:11
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 14:11
G'day Royce,
A little concerned with this statement,
"a lovely shorthorn cross cow"
Hope you're not getting lonesome?
Kind regards
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 14:20
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 14:20
She had lovely eyes.... but I'm an udder man myself!
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Follow Up By: Ozrover - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:37
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:37
LOL, I like a little bit of rump, lucky we dont have any sheep up here!
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Follow Up By: Member - Beatit (QLD) - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:39
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:39
Now that will have our Kiwi cousins skipping a beat!
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Reply By: Member - mazcan - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:15
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:15
hi
why do poeple complain???? because the long paddock has been a popular place to gaze cattle since the beginning of cattle men in aus it's part of the stock industries heratage get with it lol
yes reflective tags is an excellent idea but even that can only be seen from one side so it will help
but wont cure the whole problem 100%
expect the unexpected when driving at all times day/night
cheers
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 16:39
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 16:39
Aha! I have a brilliant idea. This is going to impress you. Let's make them reflective on BOTH sides! :-]]
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Reply By: Geoff (Newcastle, NSW) - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:38
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:38
With the right selective breedng we could make cattle fluorescent!
How eerie would a paddock of glow in the dark bovine's look?
Now were talking, a whole new breed we could call them "Glovine's"
Geoff
| Geoff,
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Follow Up By: Ozrover - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:55
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 15:55
Geoff,
There would be a rash if Min-Min encounters if they did & you wouldn't need a light to see the steak on your plate!!
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Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 16:40
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 16:40
Maybe just thier eyes could glow.... or teeth.
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Follow Up By: Geoff (Newcastle, NSW) - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 17:56
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 17:56
Royce,
It'd have to be all three eye's glowing!
What if it was facing away from you?
Geoff
| Geoff,
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Grey hair is hereditary, you get it from children. Baldness is caused by watching the Wallabies.
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Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 20:03
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 20:03
I don't want to go there!
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Follow Up By: Geoff (Newcastle, NSW) - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 22:34
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 22:34
Aww, c'mon Royce you started the game!
Geoff
| Geoff,
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Grey hair is hereditary, you get it from children. Baldness is caused by watching the Wallabies.
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Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 23:24
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 23:24
All good things come to an END....
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Reply By: Motherhen - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 17:23
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 17:23
It is not just cattle, but native wildlife and even camels, depending on where and when you travel. We never travel after dark in unknown territory, or in areas where any of the above are a risk, whether there is any signage or not. Don't trust electric fences as the power can go down at any time due to something as simple as a small branch landing on the wire or any number of different causes.
Several times we have had camels come without warning onto the road in front of us to stop or amble up the road in front of us, during the day. At
Alice Springs, a caravan came in; a large Roadstar and the front corner had been stoved in when hit by a camel during the day.
It is important to keep grassy verges grazed or otherwise cleared as they are a fire risk, particularly from the inconsiderate who may throw out a cigarette butt.
Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 17:44
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 17:44
Hmmm now there's a dilemma... how to reflective tag the wildlife.... maybe darts.
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 19:23
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 19:23
Mmmm - pehaps reflective eyes on the drivers
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Reply By: Shaker - Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 18:42
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 18:42
Surely it's better to graze it, than to slash it & let it rot!
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Royce- Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 20:02
Friday, Jan 08, 2010 at 20:02
I am always amazed at the magnificent 'hay' quality grass that is slashed alongside the highways.
My
roadside however is native grasses. I'd prefer that they be slashed and have the seed and nutrients stay where they are.
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