Even a good yak can have a bad day

star ledger ^ | November 02, 2007 | SEUNG MIN KIM

[Coleus]

Of all the yaks lumbering around Edelweiss Farms, No. 49 was never going to win the Miss Congeniality award. She could often be seen walking alone, away from the herd. Her farmer, Dirk Milz, described her as having an "I'm the yak and this is it" mentality. She was the yak who took no flak.

"You need two eyes on her," Milz said.

Even so, no signs indicated she was capable of trouble -- until a baby yak named No. 85 came along. What came next is believed to be the first yak attack in Garden State history. It unfolded last week on the Hunterdon County farm with four-day-old No. 85. Milz had just opened a gate to let the baby out for a stroll. It's something he does several times a day, releasing the herd into a 6-acre fenced-in area so the yaks can stretch their legs, eat and do yak things.

All was proceeding normally when No. 49 suddenly charged. Milz, who was about 10 feet away, quickly found himself with 700 pounds of shaggy hair and horns bearing down on him -- much to his dismay.

"All the yaks we have are tame, friendly; you can go into the pasture, push them up, and pat them," Milz said. "They're not aggressive of any kind, not to me or anybody." Yaks, a bovine species native to the Himalayas, do not ordinarily view humans as a threat. Milz said he's had yaks for seven years at Edelweiss Farms -- a 27-year-old venture in Holland Township that also includes reindeers, llamas and porcupines in its repertoire of exotic animals -- and has never had a problem. Experts say man versus yak confrontations are rare.

[SatinDoll]

Time to make boots out of Yak hide. Hmm, nice and warm toes during an icy cold winter.