"Understand cattle better, walk on pastures safely."

With this aim in mind, an educational trail created by the Advisory Centre for Accident Prevention in Agriculture (BUL) on Solothurn's local mountain was opened on 14 June 2019, providing an insight into the life and behaviour of cattle.

By Nathalie Schwarz:

In the name of H-und.ch I was allowed to be on site, which I was very pleased about. Since hiking with and without a dog is becoming more and more popular, sometimes when cattle and humans meet, it leads to unwanted interactions or even accidents, which are often caused by human misconduct. To prevent this, animal owners are taking more and more preventive measures, such as warning signs pointing out suckler cow herds or keeping cows with very young calves in pastures without hiking trails.

The 15-part nature trail (in German and French) on the Weissenstein (SO) gives young and old alike an insight into the life and behaviour of the animals directly in the grazing area and shows how confrontations can be avoided. The nature trail was created by the two families Niederberger, longtime tenants, farmers and hosts in the restaurant and farm Sennhaus, in committed cooperation with the BUL.

The most important facts in brief:

• Keep your distance
• If possible, stay on the hiking trail and keep a distance from the cattle. if the herd blocks the path, fixes individual hikers or appears very restless, better make a detour and walk around the herd in a wide arc.

Keep calm

Besides the herds, do not make any hectic movements or noise, do not gesticulate wildly with arms or sticks. If attention is already focused on the hikers, they should confidently (and ideally with a stick) face the animals and then calmly move away from the herd.

Dogs on a leash
Dogs can be perceived as a threat by cattle. Therefore, keep them on a leash for safety reasons and do not send them out to explore the pastures. However, you should leave the dog free if it is foreseeable that a cattle wants to attack.

(Source Alpverein.at)

The project is supported by the Robert and Marcelle Strüby-Fertig Foundation and the Allianz insurance company. The starting point of the nature trail starts right at the Sennhaus Restaurant and is freely accessible during the grazing and hiking season.

We would like to thank the Niederberger family for the delicious food, the Weissensteinbahn, Heinz Feldmann (Project Manager Cattle Trail) and his team for the smooth, instructive and impressive event.