Another major cattle jailbreak

Wait a minute.  Relax.   This time they weren't my cattle.

After the bull was added almost two weeks ago the neighbor across the road had moved those cattle to the east side of his property beyond some trees and over the creek.  This afternoon as I rode my bicycle on an errand I saw the cattle walking down his driveway.  His business is nearby and I rode over to tell him.  I found the business's gate closed and locked.  I called his phone number and got an answering machine.  I called the sheriff's department as the brand inspector's phone number no longer is in service, and the brand inspector knew who actually owned the cattle.

As I finished the calls a woman stopped by as she thought they were my cattle. She said the cattle were heading south along the road.  Then I rode back.  One cow remained in the driveway.  As I worked to get the cow into a fenced pasture another guy drove up.  The herd came partially back and were in a neighbor's front yard.

We worked to get the cow into the fenced pasture but it headed back through the trees and over the creek to apparently where the cattle had been.  A gate for the land bridge over the creek was open.  I closed it.  The creek isn't that deep but apparently they used it as a barrier as there were no real fences around.

Back at the herd, a couple other guys were there, several on ATVs.  I and a couple guys herded the cattle while a couple guys were at turning pints on the road to direct the cattle in the direction of their pasture.

The cattle are either Corriente or longhorn cattle.  All had horns.  The bull was with them.  The herd was a little over a dozen cattle.  The bull was in an ornery mood and would push aside other smaller cattle near him.  So we kept our distance as we herded them.

We went around the yard a few times before some cows went back to the road and past the fence.  They turned north on the road to go back to their pasture.   The bull, two cows and two calves were still in the yard as some as the cows on the road turned to go back to their pasture.  The bull, cows and calves turned back along the fence without going around the fence.

The guys on the road herded the cows back into their pasture.  The bull, cows and calves followed until the yard's corner fence.  Another guy and I tried to get the bull, cows and calves back along the fence to get around the fence but they kept turning back short of the fence end.

Finally the bull had enough.  As the cows on the road disappeared down the road the bull put his head down and with his horns ripped though the white vinyl fence.  He, a cow and a calf went through the fence and down the road after the herd.  The remaining cow and calf didn't want to go through the fence but, since the bull was no longer part of the group, the other guy and I were able to get closer to them and herd them past the end of the fence.

We left the cattle back in the neighbor's fenced pasture along the road.  I checked all the gates were closed.  As I spoke with the main guy who helped me I learned he also was involved in herding my cattle Saturday into my neighbor's yard.

A short time later one of the cattle owners drove up.  The landowner got my message and called him.  The landowner is down in Missoula fighting a forest fire.  Now I have the cattle owners' names and numbers so I can call them directly if the cattle get out again.  I also told the cattle owner about the broken fence.

At least they weren't my cattle this time.  I have a new major cattle problem today which I'll write about tomorrow as I should have a plan in place by then to solve the problem (if I can get time away from all these crises).