The Wages Of A Nanny State
This could have easily been one of the funniest "Animal Uprising™" stories ever here in the Crabitat. But there is something so sad about all this that I really don't feel like being funny about it. Seven British schoolgirls, aged 14 to 15, who were participating in an orienteering course were dropped off a whole three miles from the school and told to find their way back using a map and compass. Pretty standard stuff. Everything was going along fine until the girls hit an obstacle they could not deal with.
A pasture with some cows in it.
Seven schoolgirls have sparked a major search and rescue mission - after being frightened by a herd of cows.
The terrified pupils, aged 14 and 15, were on a geography field trip in Swanage, Dorset, when they sent out an SOS.
They were dropped off three miles from their outdoor centre and told to find their way back using a map.
But the teenagers, from St Albans in Hertfordshire, got stuck on a hill when they came across a herd of cows in a field blocking their way.
A coastguard rescue team, police and an ambulance were scrambled to rescue them after one of the girls called for help on her mobile phone.
A Hertfordshire County Council spokeswoman said: "The children were concerned because they realised they were going to have to walk through a field with cows in it.
They were unable to figure out how to go around the field. They were unaware that cows, absent a bull in the field, are harmless. And they required rescue. One even required a trip to the hospital because she was "cold". Two others have "aching knees" and are resting rather than completing the coursework.
Britain is seriously in trouble if this is their next generation. They can not deal with anything out of the ordinary whatsoever. And expect rescue at the drop of a hat. The real world is going to dine well on the Brits. That saddens me to no end.
Animals, World news | Gaius Thursday, 19 July , 2007
By feeblemind, Thursday, 19 July , 2007 @ 9:34 pm
One wonders if the girls were just sandbagging and didn’t want to hike 3 miles? One also wonders if the public is allowed to trespass through pastures (private property) without permission in the UK? Cows are very docile. The only exception being if you try to handle a new born calf. Some cows will try to kill you if you lay a hand on their baby. As for bulls, the most FAQ I get from hunters is whether or not the bull in the pasture is mean. I tell them bulls are lazy. They like to eat, drink, sleep, fight with other bulls, and have sex, and not necessarily in that order. Not unlike men, eh ladies? One should remember that bovines see humans as predators. It is not the other way around. A bull won’t bother anyone in a pasture setting unless you can figure out a way to corner it.
By Sylvia, Thursday, 19 July , 2007 @ 10:03 pm
Some of us have actually gone on dates where it was necessary to walk through a remuda and a passel of longhorns in order to get to that nice bluff with the view of the sunset. And then we walked back, muuuuch later, same way, scrambling down the cliff into the draw where the critters were dozing, me close behind the guy with the bow legs, quietly pushing our way through the pack to get back to camp… Guess those young Brits never heard about shortcuts? Or cowboys?
By OldeForce, Friday, 20 July , 2007 @ 1:18 am
And it could also be because these were city kids who’d never met a cow before. [I'm 64 and lucky that the family that bought my uncle's farm were friends; I got to spend lots of summer days at a real dairy farm. But I was never allowed into the field where the bull grazed; the farm owner usually carried a length of heavy pipe when he went into the pasture.] In 1973, my brother, then a science teacher, took a group of urban [Newark, NJ, area] kids on a trip to a wildlife area in central NJ. As they passed a farm, the kids were almost falling out the bus windows - they had never seen real cows, pigs, or sheep! And then they ran into a flock of Canadian geese at the wildlife area.
By sam, Friday, 20 July , 2007 @ 1:45 pm
This doesn’t surprise me much. You could set 7 American schoolgirls from most any major metropolitan area down in a rural location and have the same thing happen. Most urban and suburban dwellers have little knowledge of what goes on in the country.
By nancy, Tuesday, 31 July , 2007 @ 12:33 pm
It’s not really the cows that bother me. It’s what the cows drop! Now I wouldn’t like to fall into one of those in a dark field.