Holy cow!

The last few years have seen a marked increase in the frequency in which you stumble across cows in the forest. It's return to the past in many ways and a positive thing too. Pre industrial forestry in the New Forest saw cattle grazing as common practice, as attested too by the widespread use of pollarding, which is just coppicing put out reach of grazing animals. This practice was banned with the onset of industrial forestry as were the grazing livestock. It's good to see them back, it adds to the diversity, as well as adding an element of danger. What danger you ask? Well, I reckon cows have become more aggressive in recent years, we've been chased by them several times recently. On one occasion this led to a friend suffering a broken ankle. So, when a horny beast like this one pops up from behind the bracken in front of you, looking moody, you think twice about your next move.  That said, I say lets see more! Reintroduce more animals back into the landscape. I'd love to see wild pigs roaming the forest again, it works fine during pannage.  Yeah, it might create some problems, even dangers but the benefits to diversity would be widespread. I think it might make us more human too, having to think more whilst walking the land could reconnect us to our rightful place in the natural order of things, from which we are currently far too removed.