You’d think it was Friday night and she had her dancing shoes on. Some girls just have to be where the action is, you know. We hoped she’d settle down, fearing she might end up in a bad neighborhood. But she means no harm, and manages to get herself out every fix she gets into, so it’s pretty entertaining to just chuckle and watch from the sidelines. Even the dogs recognize her from a half mile away. If she has a name it’s probably not fit for a family newspaper, but her street name is 521.
All the other cows that our neighbor is pasturing across the fence seem content to graze where they are asked to. Oh, once in a while, they might rub a gate down and go visiting but they know when they’ve been naughty and it doesn’t take much of a nudge to send them homeward. 521 takes that business about greener grass on the other side seriously, so at least once a day we see her in the lane by the barn. And she’s right, the grass is a lot greener there.
521 is street smart. Probably been doing this all her life before finding herself in this neighborhood, but it didn’t take her long to catch on to the way things are done around here. We’ll be sitting at breakfast, looking out to see what the day might bring, when Bruce says, “there she is again.” He takes the dogs and heads down the lane. 521 pretends to be blind and deaf, and keeps on chomping. When the dogs get permission to work, she looks up, as if to say, “Sorry about that.” Turns around, finds the spot where she came through, and meanders off. She doesn’t make a hole, or rub down the gate. Just climbs through the barbed wire one foot at a time. Exactly like the pictures of border crossers making their way through razor wire.
Every rancher has had, or will have at some point, a critter like 521. You can drive yourself silly trying to keep them where they belong, spend big bucks on new wire and more posts, or move them to another pasture. But once she makes up her mind that this particular spot is her home, it’s easier on everyone to simply accept the situation and go about your business. Years ago, we had one that decided to graze on the neighbor’s meadow, which was just across the fence from where she and her companions were designated to stay. We put her back several times a day until she had her calf, and we noticed that she’d feed the young’un and then step through the fence. Grazed nearby while he napped, crossed back over to feed him again… She did stay in the pasture with him at night, which told us that she knew about coyote predation. Well, she didn’t eat that much, and the neighbor didn’t have cattle there, so we just let it go on. Until the day when the half-grown calf was out, grazing along with her. Time to put wheels under them both.
Parents, pay attention to your habits. Youngsters learn early and are always watching.
Meet me here next week and, meanwhile, do your best. Someone might like it.