"...e.g. a firearm..."

You beat me to it. I carried a firearm on duty for 31 years. Luckily never fired it except in training (plus one cow, and a few jackrabbits)...

Uh oh, I had never thought about attack cows... a whole new topic to be concerned about! Does pepper spray work on them?

"...Does pepper spray work on them?..

Good question. The ones (and yes, there was more than one) that tried to attack me I outmaneuvered in my trusty black and white. But the one who tried to do battle with a Chevy Blazer going 70+mph learned the hard way that a .357mag will do the trick...

It probably would, but....

Cows are about the most stupid animal in the world over 25 pounds. They'd probably freak out, and run in a straight line. With my luck, it would be a heat seeking cow, so even dodging wouldn't help. Cows are half a ton or more walking, eating, pooping dumb and panicky. I wouldn't want to make the situation worse.

Besides, attack cows? That is out of Monty Python. The only ones that are likely to charge you are bulls- don't try to spray it, at the effective range of pepper spray it won't slow down before it hits you.

"...The only ones that are likely to charge you are bulls..."

And I am here to tell you, even a smallish bull can put a pretty good dent in the drivers door of a Dodge Polaris...

Mad cows??? LOL...

I think that this is true for most of the gear I pack in my vehicle emergency kit. While some things are obvious candidates for replacement over time (antibiotic ointment that is date stamped, etc.) at what interval should some of the other items be replaced??

I worked with cattle in upstate NY for a number of years, assisting the old man, who was a vet and who was usually doing vile things to the cows while I held them. Got knocked down, kicked, dragged, stepped on and horn-whacked...but never bitten. Cows only got teeth on the bottom, and they are less intelligent than raven suggests. But then I ran across a discussion of cow-bite treatments by an Aussie ER nurse-apparently cow bites are a common injury in Oz. Who knew? Must have meaner cattle, along with the most poisonous snakes, insects, and sea creatures on the planet.

The old man's comment on sustaining cow injuries: "in order to work with cows, you got to be smarter than cows." Accurate, if not comforting.

Probably a crushed finger or hand.

Now... Sticking your hand in a cows mouth just seems like it has "Fosters" written all over it.

This guy was indicating crush injury with signifcant lacerations-apparently they are experimenting with an Angus-tyrannosaurus cross-breed-