Cattle are gone

Dan took his cattle home today. It is bittersweet for as much as they have caused me trouble the past few weeks, I miss them a little. I find I am looking out to the pasture for them time to time. Still it is for the best as the grass is really drying up; no rain is in the forecast; and the temperatures are suppose to be in the 90s F this weekend. What grass that hasn't dried up will be dry by this weekend. Dry grass = restless and jailbreaking cattle.

I got up before 6:30 am to put a railroad tie post in the loading corral. Amazingly I had dug the hole correctly and to the correct depth last night in the dark. I guess I have the knack after digging a number of holes the past few days.

I dropped the tie in the hole and attached another section of fence. With this tie in the ground I was able to connect to the remaining two old sections of fence and use them.

By the time the loading corral was ready the herd had come across the hayfield to stand at the corral fence to watch me. I opened the gate and most came through. Seven stood outside the fence and looking through the fence watched the rest inside the corral and occasionally bellowed. The seven seemed to be too dumb to figure out to go down the fence and then walk through the gate. I then noticed that all but one of the seven were the seven that escaped yesterday afternoon. I herded them through the gate.

I called Dan and he came shortly to get them. Once he got here I had him leave his truck and trailer by the house, and stay with it until I got the herd into the loading corral. I was able to do it without riling up the herd.

It was pretty smooth to load the first batch of cattle. I got ten loaded into his trailer. The trailer was loaded down. A little too much weight as he later said he had problems backing into his corral to unload them as the trailer hitch wanted to drag on the ground in a few spots. So it took a long time before he returned.

I threw some hay into the loading corral runway where the remaining ten were standing. They all crowded together at one end and didn't move much. Except for #78 who wanted to pick fights with a few of the others. I decided to call #78: Loki - the Norse god of mischief. With his cut off horns and thin scrappy build he seemed to be a "Loki".

For this next load Dan decided to only take six cattle so as to not overload his trailer again. I got Loki and a few other of the troublesome cattle loaded. Such as #3 and #204.

Who did not get loaded was #23 who I finally figured out was the chief troublemaker. #23 is a big steer. After Dan drove off #23 started to pace the loading corral's runway. Three other cattle remained who I came to name: Larry, Moe and Curly. Between these three they shared maybe a single brain.

#23 would walk to the head gate and Larry, Moe, and Curly would follow behind. #23 would have to back up as the corral at that point was too narrow for him to turn around. #23 would have to push back against Larry, Moe, and Curly who were crowding him and were clueless. Once the corral was wide enough for #23 to turn around he would but the three out his way.

Around and around the runway #23 paced looking for a way out. Larry, Moe, and Curly would follow behind. #23 was getting annoyed at them and would push them aside when he turned.

Occasionally #23 would stop and watch the guys build the neighbor's garage. Other times he would stand and think and look at the fence. The sides were too high to jump over as he stretched his neck up to test the height. I got extra boards then stood next to the gate which was the only way he possibly could escape.

Occasionally he would push his head through a broken section of the snow fence and then push against the fence hoping to break the boards behind the snow fence. I would shout at him to stop and he would. Then back to pacing. Sometimes he would pace fast and I was afraid he was trying to get a head of steam up to go through the fence.

After what seemed forever in the hot sun Dan came back and we loaded the rest. #23 was the last to go into the trailer and even then it took two tries to herd him into the trailer. It figures he would be the last to load. I am certain he was the reason for many of the jailbreaks as after watching him in the corral I am sure he was the one who broke the fence yesterday and the day before.

Well, the cattle are gone and that is one less headache right now. After they left at noon I went back into the house to finish my breakfast. Then I promptly fell asleep in the chair for several hours and slept hard.

Now that the cattle are gone that frees me up to go to NoDak to be with my mom. Apparently she is getting better. The dilemma is the train is sold out until Monday, then the ticket prices are 2 and 1/2 times the typical prices for several days before coming down to a price comparable to what it would cost to drive there. I don't relish the 700 mile drive so I need to think on what I will do. Drive or wait?