The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Runaway cows: Housing estate residents surprised by impromptu rodeo.
Udder surprise for residents as cows make break for pastures new
A peaceful afternoon was shattered for the residents of a Perth suburb yesterday when a herd of cows made a bid for freedom.
Householders on Kinnoull Hill are used to a variety of wildlife in their gardens but an invasion by a 10-strong herd was a first.
“I was just about to get lunch when my wife shouted ‘there’s a herd of cows coming down the road’,” said Corsie Avenue resident Michael Drew.
“We get the odd deer, but I had never seen anything like this.”
Along with other residents who had come out to see what all the fuss was about they managed to herd the cows into one garden in the street.
“A group of us corralled them into one place, it seemed a bit safer than having them running around,” said one man who had been visiting his parents.
The police were summoned at around 1.40pm and contacted the local farming community to remove the cows.
While the police were waiting for assistance the owner of the house where the cows were happily grazing arrived back home.
She wondered what all the fuss was about when she saw police and crowds outside her home but took the invasion in good spirit.
“I think I was relieved to see that it was just cows in my garden,” said the woman who declined to be named.
“It could have been something much worse.”
After around two hours of freedom the cows – which had pushed over a gate at a field across from nearby Corsie Road before escaping – were coaxed out on to the street by a farmer.
With the assistance of local people and other farmers and their staff, the cows were led off up the street and down a lane towards their field.
The owner of the garden where the cows had taken refuge was left to inspect the damage to her lawn and shrubs, but police told her the farmer had said he would be back in touch with her over the matter.
The cows did a fiddle, while the neighbours laughed to see such sport till the herd were persuaded to mooove. It certainly was a funny afternoon in suburbia when a herd of cows escaped their field to graze in a housing estate garden for the afternoon.
But all’s well that ends well, and the farmer has promised to make amends to the house owner whose garden was invaded. No jokes about cow parsley now...