I have a short farm story for you today.
Earlier this spring, we had several calves born on the same day. We had already tagged several when we found another sweet little newborn.
This cow was #11 and we weren’t expecting her to be too bad, since she backed up when I got out swinging my stick.
Watson grabbed the calf.
#11 saw that and decided my little stick wasn’t as bad as she thought it was and charged me.
Now, Watson was right behind me, tagging the calf on his own, right beside the Gator, while I was facing this cow who was coming at me with her head down. In my head, I’m telling myself that I can’t dodge, because if I jumped out of the way, she’d get Watson. I’m also chanting (silently) to Watson hurry up hurry up hurry up!
It was a heifer, so all he had to do was put the tag in. How long does that take, anyway?
I’m hoping he’s almost done, when Watson says, “Which ear should I put this in?”
I’m like, seriously? He hasn’t even started to tag it yet??
I say, not so calmly, since this cow is running toward me. “Either. Both. GET IT DONE.”
I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this is going to hurt, when Ethyl jumps off the back of the Gator (I’m still not sure why) and runs between me and #11. She doesn’t chase #11 and she doesn’t stop in front of me like she’s protecting me, she just runs between us.
I guess the only thing #11 wanted more than to eat me, apparently, was to eat Ethyl, since she immediately changed directions and charged my dog.
So, Ethyl runs around the Gator, and I’m breathing a sigh of relief and Watson is saying, “Which ear should I put this tag in?” And, yeah, Ethyl runs around the side of the Gator and #11 comes around full speed after her, which is probably a good thing, because I want to rip the tagger out of Watson’s hand and show him exactly where that ear tag goes (and not on the calf, and, honestly, I’m not usually that violent, but if he were in my position, he’d be yelling at me to get the job done and talk about it later ; ).
Ethyl and #11 make two more rounds around the Gator before Watson finally picks an ear and gets the calf tagged.
We let her up, I thank Ethyl for saving my bacon, #11 stops charging and starts licking her sweet baby and we hop in the Gator with Watson mumbling, “I should have put it in the other ear” as we drive away. I think Ethyl rolls her eyes, but I’m not sure. I certainly didn’t. : )
Alright, don’t forget to check out Jay’s preview and preorder Just a Cowboy’s Secret Baby! And, if you haven’t joined my Facebook Reader Chat – you can click below to do that – our party starts on Saturday!
Thanks so much for spending time with me today!
Hugs and love,
~Jessie 