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I was in the Berner Oberland (in the Kander valley south of Spiez) in April, and I heard a cocopheny of bells – I looked up onto the hillside opposite and the cows had just been let out of their barn into the field for the first time of the year . Its great fun to watch (I’ve seen it at Easter before when sitting outside a holiday chalet near Zweisimmen).
So cows will be in fields at least up to ‘medium’ altitude – say up to 1800m
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We are here now. Cows are everywhere!
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What would a trip to the alps be without the cacophony of bells!
Thanks for the input. The mountain web cams still show a lot of snow, so I wasn’t sure if/when the cows would arrive.
Does anyone have input on cows in the Murren/Gimmelwald area in particular?
thanks
mike
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Question for the group: How many kilos of cheese can be produced by 10 Swiss cows during one 4month season in the mountains? (True fact related to me by hut keeper/dairy farmer in Blackenalp)–
(a) 100 kilos
(b) 500 kilos
(c) 1500 kilos
(d) 3500 kilos
Answer to come in following post.
NTL
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Mikereynolds – we were in Murren/Gimmelwald last week and there were definitely cows and sheep everywhere. Take the walk from Murren to Gimmelwald or the Lauterbrunnen valley and you’ll find them!
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That’s a little under 4 tons!
now that’s a lot of cheese. Good thing I didn’t die yesterday as I wouldn’t have known that.
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“Good thing I didn’t die yesterday…”— Thats a great line, pvonk. Mind if I use it?
Yes, that is a lot of cheese, especially for only 10 cows over a few months.
Another Swiss cow-related fact– the large herds that you encounter roaming free at higher elevations are generally not milk-producing, as it is impractical to round them up once or twice a day for milking. For the most part, they are the young cows that are maturing. Or bulls….
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Sure, use the line all you want. I first heard it from my Swiss aunt. She had a sense of humor.
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Hopefully still there in mid July?
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Hi LaurelMere! Do you mean whether you’ll still see cows up in the meadows mid July? In that case yes, you certainly will!