UDDER-ly Out of My Element.

Today marks a first for me since moving to Goodland. I helped move a cattle herd from one field to another. These cows are not our own but rather, Tim's uncle's herd, and he happened to be looking for a couple of extra helping hands. And apparently that meant me (he was clearly desperate). As one might think there's a lot that goes into moving wayward, non-thinking animals across fields. Our effort today required seven people: two on 4-wheelers, two on horseback and three in pickup trucks (that was me, thank goodness). My job was to bring up the rear and watch for stragglers and possible escape artists. The 4-wheelers cruised along each side of the herd and a little toward the front to direct them. Toward the back with me was Farmer Tim in another pickup doing the same job as me but on the other side. The third pickup was pulling a trailer. It began as an empty vessel, but as we journeyed across the Kansas plains (channel your inner pioneer) the cowboys on horseback would lasso a calf if they were going too slow and they got a cush trip to their new field. Out of the 20 calves that made the journey only three or four made it the entire way on hoof. 

What I found endearing was the whole ordeal of placing the calf in the back of the trailer. And when I say it was an ordeal, I don't mean for the cowboys. It was quite the ordeal for those mommy cows. Talk about separation anxiety. It was as if it was their life's work to keep the cowboys from putting their babies in the trailer and then somehow their mission to get them out. Because once the calves were hoisted in, the moms would bolt back toward the trailer and run alongside it, whining at all of us like we were going to do something about it. Ha! They were wrong.

Why would we go through all this trouble? When you put cows to pasture, you want to fatten them up so they make you lots of money when you send them to the cow hotel slaughter. These cattle had eaten everything in sight, so they needed to graze on to greener pasture. When all was said and done, we had accompanied these ladies (around 110 in total) five or six loooong miles to their new home. At least it's long when you're averaging 2mph. The pics below show the cows making the final steps of their pilgrimage; and me, relieved I didn't get a flat tire driving in all those fields! Phew.

While this isn't my normal routine, I was happy to help and happy to be able to share this experience with you. Eat beef.