Saturday, September 17, 2011

We've Been Doin' It All Rong

link

Who knew? All these years with the horses, pickups, dogs, motorcycles, four wheelers and even on foot? Frankly, I've never seen cattle chase after something quite like that silly little R/C off roader. Yeah, load up the back of a pickup with some tasty feed to get the herd to follow - but at a dead run?

I have seen cattle move like that when a domestic hog gone feral got 'em all worked up. That was different. The cows bunched up into a big circle looking outward protecting the calves in the middle, and the bulls hounded the hog. The free life hadn't really treated that hog very well in the first place, so he was hardly a threat. The cattle didn't care - they did not like that hog. My buddy, who owned the cattle and rented my pasture, had seen this and come to me because he knew I was appropriately armed. So, we drove out there and I shot the hog, and frankly, I put it out of it's misery. It had not adapted as well as this hog.

Another thought - sooner or later, whomever is behind the wheel of that R/C car would get their a$$ chewed by the stockman for running off the pounds and unnecessarily stressing his cattle. If you were to believe the animal activists' insistence that cattlemen are cruel, heartless bastards, you might be surprised to find how protective those bastards are with their charges, and how they can go from zero to highly PO'd in under five point nine seconds if someone is screwing with their wards. Just sayin.'

Stolen unmercifully from Facebook posts by Laura and Lorrie

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

They sort of lose the target when it stops. Some link is missing in their evolutionary development...

But, Jeffro, srsly...350? I am closer to a third of that, and I think it's 10lbs too heavy...

Jeffro said...

Oh yeah, and it gets worse if I get behind on my diuretics.

Anonymous said...

Then a wish you more rogue hogs on your property, as a chance to "trot"!

Jeffro said...

Maybe I should hunt 'em with a .22 and a bowie knife in my teeth!

Anonymous said...

Scratch that comment, J. That was not a good joke.

Jeffro said...

But I'd get more exercise that way! Should I survive, that is..... ;-) I wasn't working on offending you!

Did you read the link in my hog hunt post going back to my weird neighbors (Ziggy)? There is something about the water out here.....

Anonymous said...

No-no, I wasn't clear. Scratch MY comment; it was MY joke that wasn't good.
I re-read it and imagined my sister's face if I said something like that to her. Sorry.

Going to read about Ziggy now.

Anonymous said...

Read the story that started with old Ziggy. So sad.
You are a very good writer, Jeffro.

Jeffro said...

Thanks, Tatyana. I appreciate that. Have you ever read my post Cycles? It's kinda my explanation for why I like living where I do.

Anonymous said...

Tomorrow I will.
I dug out a book of Andersen tales from the back of my bookshelves today, and between his heart-wrenching stories and yours I am kinda loosing myself.
"Magical power of the Art"(c).

Oh, right, forgot: you don't know the source. Later.

Sweet dreams

Jeffro said...

Back at ya!

Anonymous said...

While I was reading it the name came to mind: J. Steinbeck; similar in tone and ...message is not the right word, but closest that first come to mind.
Don't remember in which novel he writes about seasons in near-desert California valley, I think it was East of Eden.

Thank you for that link. "Philosophizing" behind combine wheel brings a good harvest.

Jeffro said...

Egads! Comparing my meagre scribblings to Steinbeck? My head will not fit through the door anymore after that!

And it's been years since I read East of Eden. The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row - those titles have stuck in my mind.

I think all those years riding around with no outside stimuli made me introspective. Of course, many of my compadres grew up in the same conditions and are not that way at all, so there you go.

Anonymous said...

When they are not they become Ziggys. Or talk to their dogs. Or to imaginary friends on their computer screens..oh wait.

BTW, I don't know if you look into that corner of blogosphere - but you might find it interesting. Steve Bodio (Querencia), LabRat and Stingray from AtomicNerds,Odious and Peculiar and others from LabRat's blogroll.

Jeffro said...

I check in on Atomic Nerds once in a while - I definitely see them referenced by Phlegmme, LawDog, Farm Girl and Ambulance Driver.

I've about reached blog saturation with my list in Google Reader. During the week with long days at work I have to abandon the big blogs with tons of posts - like Knowledge is Power and Ace of Spades - to keep up with the blogs of people I "know." Sunday nights I check out a lot of blogs I don't have time to see during the week - like Shorpy and FrankJ.

Anonymous said...

I mention them in particular because they share your love for Wild Open Spaces and generally tuned in with outdoors.