Ranching is always an adventure.
Sometimes a tad . . .
uncomfortable.
But always entertaining.
Orphaned calves are cared for in one of several ways on a
ranch.
Bottle feeding is always an option.
But the best solution usually involves adopting the little
baby onto another mother.
Okay, it sounds good.
But convincing the mother to take on another cow’s calf is
tricky.
She is seldom . . . okay, never . . . willing to cooperate.
If she has lost her calf (and I know this sounds icky) the
rancher can skin the dead calf and tie the hide onto the living one. The cow
smells her calf and the adoption is complete.
But when she still has a calf living, the process is a bit
more difficult.
The solution usually involves buckling the two calves
together at the neck and turning them in with the cow.
The cow quickly discovers that she can’t kick the strange
calf off without also losing her own.
A bovine conundrum.
Eventually solved by allowing both calves to suck.
The only concern thereafter is making sure one periodically
loosens the collars as the calves grow.
And that’s where my story starts.
Finally . . .
Several of the cow hands on the Stringam ranch were checking
the herd.
They noticed that a pair of coupled calves’ collars were
getting a bit snug.
Someone needed to chase the intrepid pair down and perform
the necessary loosening procedure.
One volunteered.
By spurring his horse.
Now, this was a man who was accustomed to working with
cattle.
He had chased down calves before.
But he didn’t realize in this case that the yoked calves
couldn’t/wouldn’t/didn’t-want-to run together.
Instead, they began to run in at least two different
directions.
Forward progression was . . . limited.
The cowboy, used to gauging his movements by normal calf
movements launched himself off of his running horse.
Flew straight over the heads of the struggling calves.
And chewed up about 10 feet of dirt.
His friends stared at him.
Then, sympathetic to the end, burst out laughing.
The would-be wrangler spit out a mouthful of dirt and, face
scraped, bleeding and dirty, joined in the general laugh at himself.
The calves were duly caught. Their collars loosened. And
everyone headed home.
Bruised.
But happy.
Yep. Ranching. A
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I learn the most interesting things reading your blog. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you read it, Lana! And even more glad you find it interesting!!! :)
DeleteOh, dear. That is all.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts, too! :)
Delete"...began to run in at least two different directions..."
ReplyDeleteHilarious! (... as long as you're not the one trying to catch them!)
I'm with Lana about learning so many interesting things from you!
And all without having one bruise and without eating a single grain of prairie dust! :)
DeleteYet more reasons why I'm now a city girl! Love this post. I can ranch vicariously!
ReplyDeleteIt's a perfect world!
DeleteA lot of guys working on the ranch were wannabe rodeo stars and they couldn't wait to show their talents(?). Trouble was: a lot of them weren't all that eager to swallow their pride after incidents like that.
ReplyDeleteAs far as teaming calves up to allow the orphan to suck was concerned, I remember #26, a bull calf who lost his mother shortly after we put the herd into the summer pasture. The loss of his mother didn't sway him one bit; he just slid in beside another calf and got down to business. At weining time, he wasn't a bit undernourished.
Who needs permission! :)
DeleteThe closest I've ever come to a ranch was going to a Dude Ranch for my sister's wedding.
ReplyDeleteYou can get down and dirty vicariously here! :)
DeleteOh yes always an adventure indeed. The laughing does get us through though right:) B
ReplyDeleteSometimes, laughter is all we have! :)
DeleteI had never heard of this before! I learn something new everyday around here! I love it, I always get my husband with these little tidbits, he thinks I'm a genius. Thanks for always making me look good!
ReplyDeleteHeehee! I've never contributed to a genius before! My day is made!
DeleteI had no idea you had to do this with calves......sad and yet kind of "the whole circle of life" ish kind of thing. And very funny about the "flying off his horse" cowboy. I'll bet they all laughed and laughed at his ride through the air. I sure am learning a lot from your stories!
ReplyDeleteA ranch is a certainly microcosm of nature. Up close and personal. I'm so glad you come to visit!
DeleteLaughing at the rancher chewing up ten feet of dirt.
ReplyDeleteInteresting way to get another calf fed, I've never heard of calves being collared together, although I've heard of putting the skin of a dead calf onto an orphan. The same is done with sheep.
Never worked with sheep. Sounds like they are as particular about the adoption process as cows . . .
DeleteNow that would have been funny to watch...and no calves were caught in the process!
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder which species is the smartest . . .
Delete