Cattle Tales: When Cows Go Rogue and When Cows Go Home
It’s been a full week of moving cattle. Some by choice, some because the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence… meaning a couple cows got out. That’s why this week’s Cattle Tales has two titles: When Cows Go Rogue and When Cows Go Home.
Our first story begins like a gothic horror novel on a dark and stormy morning in July, except there’s no serial killer and it wasn’t very scary because it was just a couple farmers in their pajamas trying to navigate a stubborn cow back to her pasture. Anyway, Joel received a phone call at 6:45am from the landowner of one small pasture that a couple cows got out. These cows have had a quiet and uneventful summer grazing, munching, and meandering, until one cow found a weak spot in the fence and decided that she could reach the grass on the other side. I imagine the dialogue in her head going something like this (best read in a thick MN accent):
“Wow. Dat der is a beautiful blade of grass. Dey just don’ grow ‘em like dat anymore. Hey, Daisy, would ya look at dat blade of grass?! Hooooly Buckets. I’m gonna get dat der blade of grass, just watch.”
Well, she got it, and her friend slid out right behind her. And so began a long game of wrangle, herd, guide and chase the cows. The real problem was that directly beside the pasture was a lovely patch of woods (said no one ever - except for maybe the cows). This also happened to be the day that a strong wind and rain storm came through in the morning, followed by a 105 degree temp. Those cows sure can pick the best days to escape.
Now, most cows will eventually tire and want to return to their clean water and yummy feed. They especially want to return to their herd because, to their way of thinking, there is safety in numbers (a herd mentality). This lovely lady happened to be a young gal with lots of spitfire and no intention of going quietly. We eventally got her faithful sidekick separated and back to her pasture, but Ms. Sassy Pants just wasn’t finished playing Over the River and Through the Woods. At this point there were 3 guys trying to herd the cow and 1 farm wife manning the gates.
At 2:00 we took a break, went home to change out of our sweat soaked clothes, eat, drink, and return with reinforcements. After a few more hours of trying to navigate Sassy Pants back to safety, but to no avail, we decided to let her be for the night and realize how lonely the big world is without your friends. Annnnnd… it worked. Guess who was ready for Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the morning? Ms. Sassy Pants. I can only hope she learned her lesson.
A few days later we moved the large herd from one pasture to another. This involves rounding them up, navigating them out the gate, down a long driveway, across and down a gravel road, up another long driveway, and through another gate to the new pasture. Yee haw! With all hands on deck, the move went really smoothly. The older cows have made this trek enough times now that they remember where they are going, which helps. We use a couple horses to round the herd up and move them forward, a skid steer to guide them (the skid steer brings them feed so they view it as a food truck), and people placed strategically to serve as road blocks. Once the gals get moving it’s all about keeping things calm and steady, and making sure none of the calves get left behind. Team work wins the day!
All in all, it was a great week. The itch weed burns will heal… eventually. ;)