This Months Farm Chores

Whoa Bessie!!

Sitting, doing a little updating on the web site and what should happen? I hear the very words that we on the small farm least want to hear, "John, the cow is out of the pasture!" Sure enough, as I ran out the front door, I saw a tremendous amount of activity across the highway. Bess was causing quite a stir at the neighbors'. There she was, with her accomplices the goats, wandering in the neighbors' yard. Now, we live on quite a busy highway. I'm still not too certain how she got across the road without causing a bit more commotion, but she did. With the whole family running in circles, we managed to get her up on the highway, (was this a good thing to do?). I was quite amazed to see my delicate little flower of a wife frantically waving her arms, standing firmly on the center line of the state highway, staring down a truck. Well, I guess when push comes to shove we'll do just about anything for our animals. Once the truck stopped, and I convinced the traffic from the opposite direction to stop, Bess shot back over to our side of the road. With the help of a bucket of grain, my son was able to get a lead on her. Now let me tell you what it is like to try to restrain a cow once she has tasted freedom. For the anglers among you, imagine that feeling you get when you hook into a 10 pound large mouth bass. Now imagine that you have an 800 pound cow at the end of your line. After a short rodeo, Bess was back into the pasture. Oh, and you've heard the phrase, "stubborn as a goat." Well those goats were no trouble at all. They just wanted back to the comfort of their own pasture. After a brief root cause investigation it was determined that the gate had been left open after the last feeding. Based on the goat droppings and upset farm equipment, it seems that the goats had quite a time in the barn.