4/30/2023 0 Comments Prey animalsThe main difference is that the cattle are moved at a walk instead of at a run. This same principle is also used to quietly move cattle both on pastures and through chutes. This maneuver helps the antelope to escape. An impala chased by a lion will run in the opposite direction when a lion passes it shoulder. The point of balance behavior pattern aids a grazing animal in escaping from a predator that is chasing it. If you watch the nature shows you will see antelope following lions, but keeping a safe distance. Turning and facing a potential threat enables the animal to keep track of where the predator is. Frightened cattle mob together and circle. Milling: This is high fear behavior that should never occure.When a handler walk in a straight line just outside of the flight zone, soft bunching is triggered. Soft bunching: Cattle will graze in soft bunches when they are in an area that has predators.Return to safety: Cattle have a natural behavior to go back to where they came from.Reverse flow (parallel): Movement speeds up when the handler walks inside the flight zone in the opposite direction of desired movement.Flight zone: Move away from the handler when the flight zone is entered.Turn and face: Turn and face a handler who is in the pressure zone which is just outside the edge of the flight zone.My observations of both cattle movements and watching many nature shows indicate that both wild and domestic grazing animals have six basic instinctual behavior patterns or "software programs" which help them avoid predators. When the person enters their flight zone they will turn away. The tendency to turn and face a person is instinctual,but the size of the flight zone is greatly affected by experience. Cattle have a tendency to turn and face a handler, but keep a safe distance. Other instinctual behavior which affect an animal's movements during handling can be modified by experience. The flehman or lip curl of a bull is an example of a fixed pattern which requires no learning. Some instinctual behavior patterns are very rigid and fixed and others can be modified by learning. The early naturalists called these behavior patterns instincts and modern animal behavior specialists call them fixed action patterns. The predator avoidance behavior patterns are hard wired into the brain and they function like bits of computer software. Cattle are a prey species animal and over the eons they have evolved behavior patterns which enable them and all their wild cousins to protect themselves from predation. What many people do not realize is that common low stress cattle handling principles such as entering the flight zone to make an animal move and using the point of balance to control the animal's direction of movement are all based on instinctual behavior patterns that the animals use to escape from predators. The methods are described in my article "Low Stress Methods for Moving Cattle on Pastures" that appears on my webpage at. They may wonder how mimicking the initial stalking movements of a predator can be a low stress way to gather cattle on large pastures. Progressive ranchers and feedlot operators work hard to reduce stress on cattle during handling. Is Acting Like a Predator Low Stress Cattle Handling? Is Acting Like a Predator Low Stress Cattle Handling?
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