Looks like a normal move the cow here to there thing doesn't it ?
Ain't no way in heck!
Hubby went out and did a little much needed brush hogging. You know how much fun mowing your yard is? Imagine 800 acres with a little woods and a whole lot of grass! You are never ever done. If you don't keep up with it you get a tremendous amout of weeds! Those weeds will shade out and take all the water away so the grass doesn't grow to feed the cows. We have sprayed for weeds in the past but we really don't like to and it's very exspensive. So driving around brush hogging takes the same amount of time and fuel but is cheaper you would think. The deal is when you spray it is more permanent ! Well anyway he went out and cut the weeds until he was worn out. Coming back over one of the bridges he looked down as we always do to see if the water gap is blocked with fencing. It's one of those things you don't spend a lot of time and money just use old posts and wire to get the job done. The next flood is going to take it all out anyway. It's been out for a while but it had a lot of water that you don't want to work in to fix it. I'm not kidding, it just dried up 1 day and we were going to get the helper to fix it.
Before the help could get here even hubby notices a whole bunch of cow tracks heading under the bridge to cousin Sam's bunch of land.
Hubby counted and found we had 11 heifers out in SAMs ! He came back just so steamed! Fussing and cussing about he's too tired, too old and how in the #%^* is gonna get them back??!! Here he is 62 yo with Parkinson's and he is supposed to go chase down cows over on the cousins head high weedy place!
I tried calling and texting cousin to get the key but no luck. One thing we have learned about that place is as soon as you located them get them out because if they scatter it is almost impossible to get them all or in one day!
We got lucky and saw them from the road and they were all together. Tried to get them to go back into the creek where they came from and they wouldn't have it! Scared them to death! So he chased them on foot west then chased them back east a long ways.
I was on the road in Old Blue honking the horn and calling them an banging on the side of the truck to let them know where to head too. Helper showed up but he had to hide in the bushes because they just get a peek of him and run the other way ! Helper said this is a one man herd for sure !
Finally heifers stopped at cousins gate waiting to be let out. No keys still so hubby cut the wires next to the gate opening it up to let them through . Nope! Wouldn't have it! Had a bucket with feed to get them to the gate now he put some just outside the fence. Took forever to get one through that gap! Then finally after a while got 3 more out. Couldn't get the others to step out so I headed them down the road. Hubby didn't like that. The other cows that wouldn't come through scattered but we had 4 so I wanted to get them up before our other cows on the other side of the road talking to them found the open creek again!
The pictures above is me driving down the road with them up the side against our fence line running with the contained cows . Hubby is walking behind this bunch I am beside in the truck along the road and helper is up hiding by the gate just in case they want to keep going down the road instead of turning into the gate. As soon as we get them in the gate hubby jumps on the tailgate to get a much needed ride down the drive to the pasture gate . Get that bunch in we have to start over again.
The other bunch had followed and was just across the road from the house and of course they jus HAD to get hubby to tromp another quarter mile away through all those weeds and the creek down to the same gate they wanted to get out of again! just in time cousin Sam drives up with a key! Holy cow!! It would have been so much easier to have this a few hours ago! Oh well so now we do the same walking, honking , yelling, and banging on the door for the quarter mile road trip back home. This time we have cousin Sam in his truck filling in gaps!
It was for sure a process. Took about 4 hrs to get them back! In all that time we only had one truck come by. Cousin Sam was nice enough to give us a spare key. It don't happen often but maybe next time it will keep hubby from almost dying! Helper fixed the cousins fence we cut and will fix the creek in the morning .
Poor Hubby is so miserable! Can't even eat. To much walking too much brush too much heat too much everything !
Got him cleaned up, Rhus tox for poison Ivy in him, medicine on his toe blister, 1 mist to drink, gave him a mini rub down. Trying to feed Him but won't eat. Yet. I finally got him to eat a tiny bit about midnight when he woke up
So it took me at least till noon to feel like I was going to recuperate and I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies for everyone to say thank you.
So I made 3.5 dozen which I see isn't enough. I doubled the recipe. Daughter Nikki got me these cool stackable cooling racks! I need more cookies to fill up the last rack though !
Well so far we all survived ! We now know we have diva cows that although there is plenty of nice grass here it is always greener through the creek on the other side and they MUST have the gate opened to come back home ! Lol
Love
Ranchmama
Lord, I hope you don't have to worry about ticks, too!
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