The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday —A Walk through the Cows

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Dayphoto

It sure seems we have been hang’n at the house lots lately.

Sigh!

BUT Mom has started walking out on the place this week and WE GET TO GO WITH HER!!!!

Sure is fun!

I try….really I do…I, hum, try to stay with Mom and Fuzzy…BUT

THEREISSOMUCHTOSMELLANDDOOUTTHEREITISREALLYHARD!

Mom walks LOTS slower than I do…I mean, heck, I can be clear to the end of the field and BACK by the time she and Fuzzy get just a little ways into the field.

But to be fair, I think Mom walks with Fuzzy so Fuzzy doesn’t get lonely.

I really should also

BUT THERE IS SURE SO MUCH TO SMELL OUT THERE ————————–

We walked over to the equipment hillside, where Fuzzy scared up Robby the Rabbit. Fuzzy and Robby ran every which where, until Robby got tired and hid in the roller. Fuzzy barked at me to join him, but I was over with Mom looking at the old junk which really is homes for the mice.

The mice were not as interesting as the Robby the Rabbit but I was just too far away to be part of the fun. By the time I got there, Robby was tired and sitting in the roller just watching us.

Phooey.

We sat on the hillside and looked at the canyons of the Esclante and Dominguez for a short while….then we all moved over to the little pasture and Mom told us if it were night we could see all the cars coming across the desert from Grand Junction to Delta, but of course it wasn’t night so we couldn’t see the traffic.

Mom assured us it was there.

I headed down to the cattails, but Mom and Fuzzy didn’t they headed over to the little alfalfa field, Mom said half the place was good enough to walk for now.

The cows have made a path in the same spot in the field and in the dirt ditch that they have for over 40 years…Mom says it’s the shortest distance to where ever they are going.

Every time Dad sees the flattened out ditch (just in that one spot) he threatens to lay pipe there and cover it up. But he never does, he just gets out the ditcher in the spring and makes a new ditch.

I think he just likes to talk about the path, he really doesn’t care!

On the way back I joined Mom and Fuzzy, I really needed to be close to Mom because…..

My hurry had sort of vanished!

Because….

Well….

HAD

THROUGH

THE

COWS!!!!!!

I’m really afraid of the cows!

I’ll bark at them if they get too close to the electric fence around the yard, but I don’t want to do more than that.

WHY?!?!?!

Those girls will CHASE YOU!!!

THAT’S WHY!!!

I had them chase me when I first got here, that sort of thrill I didn’t need again in my life!

Mom has to make me go in front of her, but I only go one step in front of her foot…

Mom and Fuzzy laughed at me, but I didn’t care.

As soon as we got through the herd of 70 pregnant females —- you think about that…

SEVENTY

(70)

PREGNANT

FEMALES

I ran right to the house!

Whew!

I enjoyed the walk, I sure did. But getting through all those cows is best!

Boomer

Sand Hill Cranes

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Dayphoto

Lucky us…the Sand Hill Cranes are back and in record numbers.

They love hanging out with the calves in the one field and then sleeping with the moms-to-be at night.

We see (and hear) them coming in in droves, then some leave and some flap over to the calves.

Linda

Working on the Burn Area

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Dayphoto

Saturday, Evan came out to help Terry and I clean up

some of the charred and burned trees, shrubs and fences around and on the alfalfa hill, it took us all day, but it sure was worth it.

We have three more knolls to go and 6 little hollows, plus the two miles of property fence line on the West side of the place.

Of course we still haven’t heard any more from the insurance guy and the Ditch Company must be way too busy to come through on the North and East side of the place.

We are lucky that we don’t have any cows this year as this fence issue would be a huge problem. We can work on everything as we have time, which really does help.

If any of the grandchildren showed up, I put them to work 🙂 Two of them came for about an hour at a time. First one showed up then the other. Having them help pick up wire and broken stubs and charred fence posts with me was rather nice.

They would stay for a time, but this kind of work is hot, dirty and tiring

I think it does their little souls good….helping out the old folks! 🙂

The sunset last night was outstanding, a cloud cover was drifting in for today so as the sun sank everything turned rose and pink!

Linda

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — The Upper End

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Dayphoto

We headed up with Mom and Dad to dig ditches to the burn area over on the Back Forty and to the back pastures. They are going to put run-off-water there to see if anything can start growing again. It was lots of work for Mom and Dad but Fuzzy and I had a right jolly old time! We sniffed around to see what is happening up here. The Upper End is where the HEADGATE is. Right now all the cows are around the head gate but they will be moved off tomorrow. These are not our cows, but the south end of our farm’s neighbors. He had to move the bulls when the water came in as the ditch riders and Mom and Dad (and us) have to get to the head gate to keep the trash out. Bulls don’t like to have strange people moving around on their property. The head gate is SCARY! It thunders and foams and roils. It’s really big and has a tiny board to walk across it, which I never do. You have to walk across it, then stand on the tiny board to clean out the trash from the gate with a rake….Mom is terrified, but she ‘gets it done’. We had a sort of mini tornado last evening the wind was so horrible. Dad was on— ON — the head gate (terrible frightening thundering crashing water)…when the storm came through the place. The wind about threw Dad into the roaring foaming mess and even ripped his glasses off his face. We all tried to find the glasses but figured they were swept away in the canal. This morning Dad went on back to clean out the trash and guess what…THEY WERE THERE! Safe in a whole other spot! AND the cows didn’t stomp on them either. We are so joyful! Anyway, as Mom and Dad were working on the burn area, Fuzzy and I found Bunny. We like bunny and he seems to like us. Just hangs around us as we sniff back and forth. Sometimes Bunny even lets us sniff really close to him before he hops away. Sometimes we find footprints…those get really good sniffs. We don’t have wolves here, which we are ALL glad about, but these foot prints will help you see what we sometimes see.

Getting water to one of the burn areas took all morning. Dad said “that will have to do. If this works then we’ve helped part of the burn.”

Mom asked Fuzzy if he was ready to ride back to house.

Man, that dog can move when he wants too. Fuzzy beat both Mom and I back to four-wheeler he was so ready to get home.

The sunrise this morning was pretty cool…there was a cloud that looked like a mini-tornado.

Hummm, maybe that isn’t a good thing!

Boomer

A Fond Good-bye

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Dayphoto

Sadly we are now void of cows. In all my married years we have never NOT had cows. We milked for many, many years, then raised spring’n heifers for the local dairies, and then moved to free-range beef.

The last load went out Thursday morning.

I was going to do a Sunday Stills, but really couldn’t find what I was looking for— although, this is not a frame of nature it is a frame of a fond good-bye.

Linda

Muddy Wednesday

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Dayphoto

After the snow yesterday it warmed up to 39*, without the wind.

We now have mud on mud on mud.

Tomorrow we haul the last of our cows to market. So this morning was spent getting everything ready before it warms up enough for the mud to thaw.

I do think we are going to have a early spring.

Linda

The Cornfield and the Birds

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Dayphoto

The corn field had some new visitors today.

The Canada Geese have arrived.

Seems like there is enough room….cows, Sandhill Cranes and the Canada Geese. There were lots of them,

scattered here and there and everywhere. The Sandhill Cranes were still there also. It looked like to me everyone has decided to get along and share the cornfield.

For the geese it is probably safer that way…it’s still hunting season here.

Linda

The Calf Babysitter

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Dayphoto

I’m always surprised at the people who think cows are stupid (or pigs, or sheep, or chickens, or horses, or heck any animal).

They really aren’t. They have their pecking order—there is always a ‘Boss’ cow in every herd. This is the cow that makes up the rules, decides if they are going to walk this way or that, won’t let some other cows get to head up to be ‘too bossy’. You know the one; we all work with someone just like that (or wants to be.)

And there is always ….a babysitter. The babysitter isn’t ALWAYS the same cow, they seem to take turns. Some are really good babysitters….never get all stressed out if the calves jump and play, moo gently to them to stay close by, and in general treat all the calves just wonderfully.

Of course there are those who are NOT very good babysitters…they hang by the ‘kids’ for a short time, then gradually graze off, munching along and not keeping a very good eye on the kids. I’ve seen the Boss cow come over and head butt a couple of these ‘not very interested’ babysitters until they go back to the calves.

This babysitter is a good one. She is watching the dogs, not sure if one of them is going to rush the calves. If they do she will run head-long into them trying to scare them off (works every time for Boomer—he must have been a city/town dog in his former life–he has a V.E.R.Y. healthy FEAR of Momma cows after his FIRST big rush at him.)

—Fuzzy must have been a cow dog when we got him. He is NOT afraid, has complete command of the situation, and never wanders into an area he shouldn’t be.

If the danger gets too close the babysitter will kick and try to stomp to death whatever the danger is. Sometimes other (protective cows will come help) and they will also stomp and kick the danger to death –or until it runs off.

—and just like people there are those cows who stay away from all activity that looks like work.—

So like I say….cows are not dumb. Just people.

Linda

If You Have ….

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Dayphoto

If you have some of these

And some more of this

You will never fail to get THIS!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Linda

The Girls Arrive at the Maternity Ward

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Dayphoto

Our farm is rented in February to a rancher that likes to ‘calf- out’ on our land. The ‘girls’ get to have lots of neat things to eat the month of their due date: corn, hay, bean straw, weeds and weeds and more weeds and last year’s cattails (which are really yummy).

They do lots of good (about 82 head of moms-to-be) and our tiny group add much needed fertilizer onto the farming ground, and help munch down all the weeds and cattails and prune the sage and Chico brush (just the tips are a delicious treat), getting the farm ready for spring work.

In return the cows get a fairly safe place to have their calves. Randomly we (and the cows) will have a tussle with the coyotes and the calves always loose. Coyotes are sneaky killers waiting for the cow to be in labor and for the calf to be ‘coming out’. Cows can’t see their backside so therefore can’t protect themselves from an attack from either wild dogs or coyotes. As the calf emerges the coyotes drag the baby from the mom and immediately kill and eat it. Sometimes they will take on the mom too. And NO they DO NOT HAVE TO BE HUNGRY TO DO THIS…they just have to want too.

So we all start patrolling the farm, the ranch guys come by, and we go out. It’s important that ‘critters’ stay away….far away…from the maternity ward!

Yes, we have wild dogs….thanks to those PEOPLE who just don’t want a dog anymore and take it to the country hoping it will survive. Most of the time the dogs either—-die, get ran over, or join with the other wild dogs that run the drain ditches and the canyons looking for food. Sometimes we country folk can catch the dogs (like I got Fuzzy) and can make them ours, but most of the time that doesn’t happen.

These animals always hang close to farms BECAUSE THEY WERE ONCE RAISED IN A FAMILY OF PEOPLE and kill livestock for fun/pleasure and Food.

Raising animals and being a good protector of those in your care is a full-time job. I would hate to meet someone who lived on our farm in the bye-and-bye and have them say I didn’t do a very good job. Makes me sad to even think that could happen.

So anyway, the girls are back. These are the great-great-great granddaughters of cows that have been coming to our maternity ward for years and years.

It’s always good to see them again.

Linda