Sunday 27th July - All 25 seen

After the calm and tranquillity of yesterday, today was a very different story!

At 09:45 this morning, the eighteen members of the Caesar’s original herd, along with Sussex cow 211 and steer 1640, were found in the woodland near ///this.cubes.eaten. They were right in the middle of a large military exercise, with army units positioned to the northeast, east (alongside the Sandy Bowl), and west, firing machine guns and occasionally deploying smoke canisters.

The noise and commotion caused the cattle to split into two groups. One crossed the track and headed into the trees to the north, while the other moved west into the open area near ///shine.merit.inner, where they surprisingly decided to stop and graze. Several came over for strokes and rubs, seemingly unfazed by what was going on around them.

Around 10:10, following some mooing between the groups, most of the herd regrouped on the path near ///august.jumps.lies. They then tried to head north towards the cowshed but were stopped by their collars, which triggered and startled them, causing them to run back into the woodland—almost to exactly where they started. After a short rest, they ventured west again, walking straight into the path of the soldiers.

As it became clear the exercise wasn't ending any time soon, I walked the cattle north through the bracken and thicket, then west, looping around the activity. By 10:50, we reached the pasture near ///dolly.smug.agreeing, where they paused to graze and drink from large puddles. By 11:00, we had arrived at the pasture to the northwest near ///lends.heap.scoots. The cattle spread out, grazing happily on the fresh grass as they slowly made their way west. They were all happy, relaxed, and looking well.

Amid the chaos, I hadn’t realised the other five Sussex cattle were already grazing nearby, in the pasture to the northwest near ///quiz.streak.slack. When cow 211 saw them, she began to moo, prompting them to come down the hillside to reunite. The five Sussexes looked happy and healthy but were being heavily bothered by flies. They came over one by one to say hello and were glad to stand close and have the flies brushed from their faces.

Soon after, the two groups merged and continued grazing contentedly on either side of the path.

I said my goodbyes at 11:45, leaving them all peacefully grazing and heading in the direction of Horse Pond.

The cows were all good today.