***(And a pox on men who leave gates open)…
I was peacefully comparing prices today, trying to figure out whether it would behoove me to change to Road Runner and digital phone, eschewing the frustrations of dial-up and AT&T, for just about eleven dollars extra a month. I had a really helpful salesperson on the phone and was about to make a deal, when three heifers caromed off the snow banks by the garden pond and headed down the hill.
I looked over toward the barn and, sure enough, the guys had finished up feeding, gone on to the next chore, and left the gate open. Muttering words that would melt the computer if I typed them, I quickly excused myself from wheeler-dealing and raced out of the house in my soft, worn, leather house loafers. (The low ones that an inch of snow will fill in an instant. Trust me, we have a bit more than an inch.)
The heifers were more than halfway down the driveway by the time I got to the front yard with a bucket and some chicken feed pellets, which is what was handy on the porch. They were also between me and the state highway and the Interstate and closer to the latter than to me...down to the last curve and actually almost out of sight of the house, maybe five car lengths from the highway.
What do you do in a situation like that? There was no way I could get ahead of them to stop them from going into the road. If I went farther down the drive, they would be likely to run away just for the fun of it, and get there sooner rather than later. A bad situation.
So, I did what any self-respecting cow spoiler would do and called them. The odds of them coming, having never been called in for feed or anything before were slim, but I was plumb out of choices. I hollered, “E….come on baby, co boss, co E,” and rattled my pail of chicken feed.
And (thank God for his eternal goodness), my pet heifer, E Train, threw up her head and galloped back up the hill to me, a goodly tenth of a mile. She didn't really want the chicken feed but she followed me to the fork in the driveway anyhow, head in the bucket, with her runaway buddies in tow. There I managed to get behind them, and with a few side trips to leap through five-foot snowdrifts and sniff cats, they went back to the cow barnyard where they belong. I am more than slightly grateful that they didn’t get down on the road and cause an accident, and more then ever glad of E.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
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9 comments:
sniff cats ???
Hi FC, oh yeah, heifers find cats fascinating and will stop to bunt them and sniff them and even chase them.
Nice work! I didn't know that heifers were fascinated by cats.
So you're like the heifer whisperer? Isn't this a gift you might want to explore further?
Yeah E!
I hope your feet warmed up quickly!
Laurie, a cat has nothing on a heifer for curiousity. They will inspect everything, chew on it, eat it if possible, chase it if not. I have lost more gloves that way. lol
Jan, lol, she is just a pet, daughter of one of my favorite cows and very sweet. I could always walk up to her in the yard and scratch her ears, which is by no means the norm. I was grateful for that yesterday. Although I am laughing about it now, I was truly terrified. Our road is very busy and we are only a couple hundred yards from town and the interstate.
Cubby, yeah, I didn't even notice the cold really, although I was pretty mad a the guys. Now I have to do all that telephoning all over again.
Cattle get loose around here on a regular basis. Fortunatly there's no Interstate for miles and not much traffic on the back roads. Don't know how it is there but here if you hit a cow, you buy it.
And lets be glad that they didn't go down the other drive last night.
And you gotta give Chicago credit. She stayed where she belonged.
Hi Dave, Here if a cow gets hit the farmer is liable for the damage to the car and occupants. Maybe we should move down where you are!
Paints, Chicago is a sweetie, no two ways about it.
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