All gone

I sold my cattle. After checking with two livestock auction places in Missoula and Butte (who were very helpful in offering to help me line up transport for my cattle) I sold my cattle to the broker - Rich - who last month asked to buy them from me.

Rich came out last week to look my cattle over and was very impressed with them. He remarked at docile they were. He was able to walk among them to look them over and they didn't shy away. Yup, these are the best cattle I have ever owned or had pastured here by someone else.

Rich came and got the cattle Saturday afternoon. My grass was drying up rapidly and no rain was in sight. The cattle have behaved and not gone wandering or breaking fences, but why chance it? Besides, the cattle were at an ideal weight to sell.

The cattle were used to me feeding them apples from my white five-gallon plastic pails. Saturday when they were about to take their usual noontime siesta I went with a pail and they all followed me back to the corral.

After eating the apples I gave them, and checking the corral out, they settled down for their siesta. I stayed out there a bit and a number of them came and checked me out. One washed my arm and another licked one shoe clean.


It wasn't too hard to load the cattle. At first I had a little trouble getting the cattle into the loading corral. All but one followed me and the pail of apples into the corral. However they ate the apples so fast that when I went out to get the last heifer into the corral the herd followed me out. So I had to go back in before the entire herd came out after me.

I was stuck. Wherever I went the cattle followed. I couldn't get out to get the last heifer and she stood outside watching me and the other cattle. Finally I called Rich over and he herded her into the loading corral with me.

The cattle were leery of getting into the stock trailer, and after we got the first few into the trailer, they turned around and came back out before we got the rest of the cattle down the loading ramp to the trailer. So we had to start over.

It took two trailer loads to take the cattle, but it is done.

Like other years I catch myself days later looking in the pasture for them. I do miss them.

Photo 1: Emily and another heifer playing peek-a-boo with me.
Photo 2: checking out the head gate.

Photo 1: quality cattle. She how straight her back is?
Photo 2: ignoring me during siesta time.