One of our favorite things to see when hiking the mountains in Europe were cows. Maybe it was just seeing any sort of animal in general or maybe it was that we always found Alpine cows to be very friendly, personable creatures.
Whatever the reason we always loved seeing them.
These two in particular looked especially comfortable and relaxed soaking up the rays of sunshine.
They almost look like they're having a conversation, like two old lady's shooting the shit and gossiping over tea.
On one of our hikes in Bad Gastein we ran into a lot of cows on the mountain in various locations, and saw a few different varieties as well.
I don't know the names of the different types of cow, but its pretty easy to recognize that they are different. I always consider black and white cows to be the quintessential dairy cows. It's because in Ontario Canada, where I live, there are a lot of dairy farms and the cows are always exclusively this black and white type of variety.
These ones (above) look like the typical alpine dairy cow that you would see in Switzerland. If only it had a bell around it's neck to complete the look!
On this particular hike we also ran into a lot of horses. We've seen horses on mountains before but it's a lot less common it seems.
They were scattered around in groups, or alone, walking the dirt paths or grazing in the grass on the hillside.
My wife always stops and says "hi" to every single one of them she sees. They are generally pretty friendly and often seem to like the attention.
Some of the groups of horses were gathered around the gates that day and made it slightly challenging to go through. Proper etiquette is to not let the animals pass through the enclosures (obviously) and to close the gate behind you when you pass through. You don't need signs to tell you that, though there are almost always a few reminders posted.
A little further down we ran into this family of horses with this colt (or filly) that was super friendly.
It approached us immediately and stayed with us for quite a while almost begging to be pet and dotted upon. It was super cute and reminded me of a pet dog or cat in how friendly it was.
We both spent some time with it, giving it lots of attention. It was cuteness overload and probably the friendliest horse I'd ever met in my lifetime.
Actually, that little guy (or girl) ended up being the highlight of the hike that day and a really good memory of the trip in general.
Oh wow I want to visit that region so bad! The closest I have been is a couple layovers in the airport. Seeing the soaring vistas of the alps must be heavy for the miles you can see and thinking about all the history.
I know a visit to the mountainous wilderness makes me feel better for the planet as the fresh air and perspective are so cleansing. Happy cows and horses up there!
Yeah the air definitely does seem fresher in the mountains. I would love to live by mountains. I wish we had them here
I love wild horses and cows when I'm hiking in the mountains. It's an image of absolute freedom that fills me with admiration. I can't explain it any better than that.
Their serenity and deep connection with nature move me. They are not constrained by humans, they don't depend on us to survive. They evolve in their natural habitat, free to roam and follow their instincts.
I know that behind them there's a shepherd who knows exactly where his animals are, but still, it's something I admire. In fact, when I was younger, I wanted to be a shepherd.
And the funny thing is, I studied computer science. But recently, I bought some land and I have a feeling that little by little, I'm going to have animals (for the moment it's not my objective, but I have a feeling it's going to happen). I'm even passively looking for a piece of land in the mountains that I could buy.
I have the vague impression that shepherding isn't so inaccessible in my life right now.
Computer science is quite different than being a shepherd but with the land you own you could always have a small hobby farm with some animals.
Yes, it's completely different. But I'm pretty sure that, over time, I'll end up becoming something of a shepherd and I'll get further and further away from computers.
For the moment, I'm using this job to generate some income and inject it directly into my land. When my land is totally self-sufficient (or at least 80% self-sufficient), I'll be able to move away from computers a bit more and concentrate on something more natural.
Sounds like a really great plan. Good luck! 👍
Wow, what a wonderful journey, I love looking at your pictures especially as they actually show without any other effects one hundred percent natural life, if I were there I would definitely milk a cow for at least a few sips of fresh milk.
Lmao 😂 that would be hilarious to do
You know, more than 25 years ago I was honestly doing this thing, sitting next to my grandmother when she was milking the cows and drinking freshly milked milk.
I live in the country and my grandmother had a house also in the country and there in the household she had 2 cows.
And I participated as much as I could at that age in the raising of the two cows, I went with them to the pasture and gave them water, effectively the traditional life in the country.
Sounds like a nice way to grow up and to live in general. Sound like good memories with you grandma as well 😁
Indeed those are some unique memories, unfortunately my grandmother is no longer with us since 2014, unfortunately that period of my life was unique, but now everything has changed we are in the age of technology and we are too busy with things that are not always important to us.
That's very true, unfortunately
There is a lot of grass growing on the hill so the cows are easy there but I am afraid if the cows fall off the hill
I don't think that it's a huge concern for the cows falling
Oh, I would like to do similar with your wife did 😊
Glad you have such a beautiful journey
She loves all the animals
I’m amazed by the pictures of the cows
They look very big and fat. Do you have an idea if cows are harmful?
No they aren't harmful at all. They are very friendly and placid.
This post has been manually curated by @steemflow from Indiaunited community. Join us on our Discord Server.
Do you know that you can earn a passive income by delegating to @indiaunited. We share more than 100 % of the curation rewards with the delegators in the form of IUC tokens. HP delegators and IUC token holders also get upto 20% additional vote weight.
Here are some handy links for delegations: 100HP, 250HP, 500HP, 1000HP.
100% of the rewards from this comment goes to the curator for their manual curation efforts. Please encourage the curator @steemflow by upvoting this comment and support the community by voting the posts made by @indiaunited.
Thank you 😊
The pictures of the cows looks so sharp and clear
Thanks 👍