by Jan Fielden
Looking out the back window today, I saw the cows in the NorthEast Pasture. The Colonel had gone down to let them out of the pasture as he had locked them in it when the hay cutters came. So, it was time to let them out mainly so they could get to the salt. Most of them came on the run but the “baby sitters”, and there were two of them today, came at the end of the line. One mother had four calves with her and the other had two or three. There is always trouble when they come out of the NorthEast Pasture because of the tank. Right now the tank is overflowing and so the calves must wade through the water if they try to get out on the left side of the tank. Calves never want to wade through the water if they can help it. They will stand there and beller for their Mommas rather than wade the water. We never have understood why the Mommas don’t walk them around the tank so they wouldn’t have to go through the water. They don’t even take pity on their babies in the winter time when the water must be ice cold for the little ones. The “baby sitters” never have pity on them either, and in fact appear to believe their baby-sitting time is up when the herd leaves the pasture.
But today, aha! A different story. The “baby sitters” gathered their charges and marched them around the tank, through the trees, up on the dam and got them back to their Mommas without any water getting on them at all. I certainly would not have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. The Red Oak Ranch has some compassionate cows!!
