Beating a retreat

The late evening light shining across the fields tonight caught my eye. I changed the lens to take a few test shots, to see how the lenses compared. The cows seem to like this field at the moment probably because it has good grass to eat; they have been there most of the day. It is called Broad Meadow on my old map.

I saw these two teenagers (I think) walking purposefully into the field from the right, where there is a public footpath. The one in the red baseball hat and shirt seemed to be leading the way until the green shirt stopped. The cows were very aware of them and being inherently curious animals were looking at the boys. Suddenly the red shirt turned about face and walked very rapidly back towards the footpath. By my next shot they had both disappeared.

I remembered being in a field in Dorset on Tuesday when a herd of cows had parked themselves in front of the gate I had to go through. Several of them advanced towards me as I approached, but I wasn't worried and they came right up to sniff me and stand only three feet away whilst I photographed them. But I know the feeling of panic that can set in when you are unsure about animal behaviour, especially when you are young, so I can't blame them for their hasty retreat.