An Animal Report

As you’ll soon see subjects for this column are as scarce as hen’s teeth – thus, the choice for the week.

Coon

Things are always happening around the Windy Knoll – it’s never boring.  One morning some months ago John discovered a steer in our pasture and he did not belong to us.  After a little research, it was discovered that he belonged to a neighbor who wanted to sell the bovine.  It’s a Jersey and that’s the kind we like to slaughter and have in the freezer, but we can’t do that – we don’t have room in two freezers to put a thimble.  Unannounced, the owner complete with cattle trailer, came to get the growing youngster only to find it was not possible.  At that time the barn had a new mother and her baby in it and they were not to be disturbed.  The steer has to come through the barn to be loaded.  The owner has since been reminded that he could get the steer, but here it is three months after his arrival and he’s still in the pasture.

Bovine

Even before that we had a sheep mysteriously enter our pasture – he was a beauty, but after asking over and over an owner was not to be found.  He stayed for weeks and seemed to be right at home with the herd.  Finally some Hispanic fellows came and got the sheep – what happened after that is anybody’s guess.

More recently the CEO (the man who rents the pastures) and the Foreman (John) took a ride down in the lower pasture, which we can Lower Sobobia, and found the herd had grown considerably.  Well, a bull that belongs to a neighbor on our south side had torn the fence down and their whole herd was in our pasture.  After much telephoning – even making a cell phone call to one of the owners who was in Texas – the two herds were separated and now the fence has been repaired.  Yes, I know I’m being repetitive, but if you’re an older reader perhaps you’ve forgotten that I wrote about this little happening just a few weeks ago.

To go on with the report – some property on our north west corner belongs to a Mexican family – no one lives on the property, but they have chickens and goats there.  Now, needless to say, the fence is not goat proof and they frequently get out.  Repeatedly we see them in our little orchard up the road from our house, or in the road; however, just this past week we saw a whole bevy of goats in our garden.  There’s not much there, other than junk, but we don’t want the goats eating all the turnip greens.  The owners have been told more than once that the fence they are using is on our property and is not goat proof, but to no avail.  The last time John told them he was going to drive the goats in the barn, back the cattle trailer up there and load them for a trip to the sale barn.  What else do we have to do to get this problem solved?

Now about the dogs – remember Nip and Tuck?  We got these two beautiful puppies from a lady in our neighborhood a little more than a year ago.  Nip was the female and she ran under the back wheels of a slow moving truck and was killed.  Tuck was lonely, but adjusted and was such a joy to this old couple.  He turned out to be a huge dog –  he is a mixed breed, however, we know his daddy was a black lab and Tuck looks much like a black lab.  His coat was/is beautiful – he has been taken care of and fed well.  He literally sparkles.  Well, he has been gone for several days.  What do you suppose happened to him?  One time he went courtin’ but he would come home to eat, but this time we have seen nothing of him.  John has been around in the community asking if anybody has seen him, of course, nobody has.   We are heartbroken. If you see or know about Tuck, please send him home.  Better than that, let us know and we’ll furnish him a ride home. This is just some of the tales of country living.

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