Burrs

The galloways are back on Arnside Knott, and for the last couple of days have been on the diagonal path above the big rootplate beech tree. While watching this white galloway this morning it finally dawned on my dim-witted brain why they gather in this unlikely spot where the only food is from browsing yew and other trees and shrubs. This is the only place in this large enclosure where there is any fresh water emerging. There is a tiny trickle here at the base of the shilloe slope, and this cow was savouring it almost drop by drop. I haven't checked, but I'm sure there will be a water bowser for them on the other side of the hill, but maybe they prefer natural spring water.

In the photographic exhibition back in June, I had a print of one of the white galloways framed by a yew tree on the top of Arnside Knott. In my ignorance I had assumed that because it had black ears, eyes and nose it was a British White cow; and I had called it that in the narrative that I wrote for the photo. On the second day of the exhibition, a tall, heavily built man with hands the size of shovels came up to me, he was not looking at all happy. He told me off for misidentifying the cow and misleading visitors to the exhibition. He said it was his cow and it was a white galloway, and I should have known the difference.

Now I know my mistake, I can see that despite the similarity of ears and nose, they are in fact very different. The WG has a much more curly coat, and this is very obvious on the face and ears. The white galloway is closely related to the belted galloways (which outnumber the WGs on Arnside Knott), and the breed has only relatively recently been recognised.

The farmer is a tenant of the National Trust and he moves his stock around a number of their properties in this area. After he had made his point about my misidentification, we did have an interesting conversation. Most fascinating was the fact that it is still not understood how these animals can consume the supposedly toxic yew foliage without any ill effects - in apparent defiance of veterinary wisdom.