We had just finished supper, one day last week, and I was heading out to finish the evening chores, when our neighbor called Daddy. I heard a few words of the conversation, even though I was on the porch, and thought, "Uh oh, he's telling Daddy the cows are out - again." They occasionally get loose and travel down to a neighbor's pasture about 1/2 mile away, but they have always gotten loose from our pasture whenever they have roamed off. This time they were in a different neighbor's field positioned beside our back pasture, and right next to a (not very busy) road. A little local geography may help explain this episode: To get to our house, you turn off a busy highway onto a quiet, paved, country road, and take that road all the way to the end of the pavement, about a mile. Our property is the first place on the right hand side of the dirt road at the end of this paved road. The neighbor's pasture where our cows and goats were is about 1/4 mile from our house by the road, but butts up to our back pasture (we share the same fenceline.) One of their gates opens right into the ditch by the paved road, and is on top of a hill. Directly opposite this gate (across the paved road) another dirt road leads in the direction of a different neighbor who allows us to use his field. Our heifer, Bayberry, was in the pasture at the bottom of the hill, straight across the paved road from that gate. The gate is difficult to open because it sags and drags heavily on the ground, but the latch is not very secure. Still, it takes a good bit of muscle to push the gate open. Now, with that explanation, here's the rest of the story. Daddy came out and told me that Mr. H. had called him and said our cows were in front of his house. I was perplexed and extremely concerned because his house is the first one before you get to the busy highway, and was almost a mile away from our home. Images of horrific wrecks caused by semis going 65 mph colliding with our dairy cows began flashing before me as I let down the tailgate of the truck and climbed in with the dogs. Cleone jumped right up, and Duncan followed, a little more reluctantly. They had never ridden in the bed of the truck before so I rode with them and held their collars for safety. Cleone didn't mind the motion at all, but Duncan would probably have jumped out when the truck first began to move, though he settled down pretty quickly. As we came over the hill, I looked at the gate and saw that it was WIDE open. That was really strange, but we didn't stop to investigate. I saw the flashing blue and red lights of a police car down the road, and as we got closer, saw our neighbor, Mr. H. holding Blossom by the collar, and all the other cows and goats staring at the police car. Another car was blocking the other lane of the road too, so they had less chance of breaking for the highway, about 100 yards away. I jumped out and immediately got the dogs at work. In a few seconds they had the cows bunched up and heading the right direction. The officer followed in his car to make sure we got all the way back to the gate, and he helped block a side road with his car when it looked like the cows were going to make a break for it. The dogs had them under control the whole time, but I could tell Cleone was tired already because she kept trotting close up to the squad car and looking in longingly - a trick she has when she wants to ride in the car instead of work. I would not have taken her since she is so close to whelping, but Duncan doesn't have as much training as she does and I couldn't take the chance of him scattering the cows toward the highway. I called a halt at the bottom of the hill and put Cleone in the truck with Daddy, then Duncan and I moved the cows the rest of the way and put them in. In considering what happened, and doing some tests to see whether the goats (who push on gates) could have opened that gate all the way, it seems impossible that they let themselves out. It was also extremely strange that they didn't just head down the hill to the pasture they knew, where Blossom's calf was, and graze by that fence. While we don't know for sure what happened, it appears that someone intentionally opened the gate and possibly even started them toward the highway. I don't know why someone would do a thing like that, but I am so thankful that they were stopped before they got to the road, and that no one was hurt. And I'm especially thankful that we were able to put them back so painlessly, thanks to my Border Collies!
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AuthorMy name is Alayna Feldman. I have been greatly blessed and am thankful, first and foremost, to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who has saved me. I am also deeply thankful to my parents, who have raised me in a stable, safe, loving home and taught me about what is most important in life. Archives
February 2022
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