Coyotes and Cows….  here is what I know —  and I am very…. I STRESS VERY ... reluctant to post this as I’m sure that I will get hate mail, since I have had it happen before.  (Years ago when I first started blogging).

Cows are domesticated animals…they are people animals.  Many people think that cows are stupid and dumb.  I’ve had people tell me that cows are the stupidest animal on earth.  This usually is said by people who have only seen a cow in a pasture or read about a cow somewhere, some place, at some time.

Cows are not stupid, nor are they dumb.

They are herding animals, therefore they think like a herd…band together, gather together, play together and protect each other.  Cattle are very similar to Buffalo Bison.  I have never heard anyone say a Buffalo is stupid and dumb, but they will say cattle are.

Beats me why.

Anyway…cows will band together if there is a perceived danger to each other or their calves…they group together in a huge group with the calves in the middle.  When we had that horrible fire last spring all the cows gathered together and pushed the babies into the middle and walked to the furthest point away from the fire and stayed there until THE FIRE WAS PUT OUT.

Doesn’t seem very dumb to me.

As the babies are born the new moms collect and stay in a group chatting and discussing all the new cute baby things that the calves do.  As the babies mature, one or two cows will stay with the calves (the babysitter cows) while the others graze, they then take turns with  watching the youngsters.

Danger from coyotes come when a cow is in labor and/or as the calve emerges and/or if a young mother has a new calf and tells it to stay in a unprotected area while she wanders off.  Just like some women, these cows are very poor mothers putting their own needs first before the needs of the calf.

Just like women, cows do not LIKE to go into labor and have their baby with a bunch of prying eyes. The majority of the time a cow will have her calf as the edge of the herd, but there are always some that want to go to a hidden spot for a little more privacy.

When the calves are first born the mothers will lick the mucus off of the calf’s body until it is clean. This encourages the calf to attempt to stand and go find the udder. From that day forth they (the cows) watch out for the calves, let them suckle every 2 to 3 hours, babysit them, and teach them where to go, what to eat, and that the person looking after them is someone to be respected, and what a predator is.

Cows also communicate with their calves (and each other and sometimes to us humans) whenever they get separated by certain moos and loud calls.  This voice recognition is established at birth.

Cows protect their calves by using their heads, feet and chests to crush and stomp on a predator that threatens their calves or them.  They are HUGE animals weighting many, many pounds…they will even take on a human, if they perceive the human might be a threat to them or their calf or the herd.

Now just what I know for sure, …… what we have had happen to us/our ranching friends and other farmers in our area …. AND NO —- FEEDING THE COYOTES WILL NOT STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING!!! — Coyotes are known to attack cows in labor, feeding on both the emerging calf and possibly the mother.  IF the cow is not close enough for the herd to help protect her.

As to the other question of where do the cows stay for protection — we have lots of areas that are sheltered and protected by trees, bushes, and shrubs, areas the cows adore sleeping in.  It was one of the reason’s Terry and I were so upset with the fire…many of those areas were destroyed in the fire.

This year the cows are sleeping around the equipment area…which is another very protected place on our property.

Our storm blew in and blew out rapidly last night, most of the snow was dumped in the mountains which is perfect!

Linda