When cows attack

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A 70-year-old man was flown to a local trauma center with serious injuries over the weekend after a cow attacked him at a ranch, according to a recently released St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office report.

Oscar Wilcox was flown to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce following the New Year’s Day incident at a ranch in the 10300 block of Carlton Road.

Wilcox’s wife told a deputy that her husband was working on a fence in the pasture when she heard him scream. She drove into the pasture and saw a cow “attacking” her husband.

“She was able to hit the cow several times with the truck to get it off of her husband,” the report states.

Wilcox apparently had shot the cow, listed as a crossbred with 12- to 18-inch horns, with a .22 caliber pistol, but apparently dropped or lost the weapon during the attack.

His wife picked up the pistol and shot the cow several times in the face, driving the animal away. The pistol was loaded with “ratshot,” or cartridges having a number of extremely small pellets instead of a single, solid projectile,

“(Wilcox’s wife) stated that the cow has always been nasty and had attacked her about a week ago causing bruises,” the report states.

The cow was contained in the pasture.

Wilcox’s condition was not immediately available Tuesday morning.

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