Moo Cows

This was the sign that greeted us last night as we entered the national forest we stayed at. I figured maybe there were farms nearby and that cows occaisionally got out. Not so. My friends, these signs were warning us about WILD COWS.

Now I suppose it stands to reason that herds of wild cows exist as humans didn't invent them and farmers who started farming cows so long ago had to have gotten them from somewhere...but the desert? In New Mexico?

After we got our tent set up and dinner made we started hearing cow sounds coming from near the entrance to camp a little less than a quarter mile from where we were. After cleaning up from dinner, we decided to go exploring. Imagine our surprise when as we round the bend and shine our light out towards the road we discover several sets of large green eyes staring right at us. And then the large green eyes started to move toward us. All I could think was that WILD cows are coming at me in the middle of the night!

I wish I could say that I was calm and cool and collected but if I did I would be lying. Joe called after me to remind me that running away from cows was a bad idea. He also pointed out the cow blocker across the road and the fence - both of which were designed to keep the cows out of camp. I stopped running but still wasn't so convinced. I thought perhaps a sufficiently motivated cow could still get at me despite the "cow blocker" and the fence. We decided to leave the cows alone and to go back to our tent.
It took a while to fall asleep.