Jul 112 min read

Ornery Red cow-July

I have this red cow that we bought from a neighbor that is about as ornery as they come. Unlike other cows, she prefers to be on her own.

Generally, when we move cattle from one pasture to the next, which we do all the time, cows get left behind, they don’t like it very much, and they want to catch up with the other cows. She is at her happiest when everybody else is gone. And when she sees us coming, she heads for the closest bush. She’s not wild, she’s just wily. If the mesquite isn’t too bad, I can get her out and head her in the right direction.

I went out the other day to see if I could get her moved to the right pasture. I tracked her to a thicket and we headed towards the corrals.

Unfortunately, she kept looking for a thicker stand of brush and finally found one she could get lost in. I couldn’t follow her in and circled around to where she should come out but she didn’t. I couldn’t get through on my horse and I didn’t have my dogs with me to keep her moving.

That darned cow must have watched me carefully and then circled back and stood really still. Cows get smart and they know if they stand really still I can’t see them.

Normally I could send my dogs in to bring her out of the brush but it’s too hot right now. Doesn’t take long for the dogs to be panting and looking for the closest water hole.

She did this to me the other day, and I managed to finally get her in the water lot. She really didn’t want to be there and promptly ran right through the fence and back out into the pasture again. Of course, it was the wrong pasture.

Every time a cow gets away from you she gets a little bit smarter. This cow is smarter now than she was a few months ago. Hmm.

Here she is looking proud of herself!