Many of us chafe at restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. We humans are social creatures; even the introverts like me are discovering how much we need one another, and finding creative ways to connect. But I’m amazed, on the infrequent, but necessary, trips we make to town how few people are wearing masks or gloves, and wonder if they take other precautions, and if not, why not? I’ve been known to complain that it takes longer to wipe down every item we bring into the house, including mail, than it does to shop, but then what else do I have to do with this time? Bruce and I are both in the most compromised group, so better be as safe as possible.
Ranchers are used to implementing social distancing. When we buy cattle, whether replacement heifers, bulls, or just a baby calf to graft onto a cow who lost hers, it makes sense to isolate the animals for a time before incorporating them into larger groups. Hopefully, new critters are healthy, but their resistance to whatever is common to the main herd is low and sometimes the stress of transportation compromises their systems briefly. We keep an eye out for a critter with an ear down, often the first indication of sickness, and isolate the animal in question for treatment.
You never can tell what cattle will do, especially young stuff. Our worst nightmare, when moving pairs to new pasture, is having the babies lag behind. When this happens, they panic because mama is not at side and the whole kit and caboodle are likely to break and run back to the last place they sucked. An all-day mess is the result, and sometimes it takes a lot of cowboys and a few more days to remedy the situation. Like humans, cattle tend to become wiser with age but you can’t depend on that, so vigilance is always a good technique.
We hear about groups of young, and not so young, people gathering in parks and other venues, despite warnings against that, which has to be frustrating for the folks who are trying their best to keep us safe. Let’s not go crazy like the calves, and create more havoc just because we want things to be back to normal right this minute.
I’m minded of a day some years back, when all the family and a few daywork cowhands were on deck, this time of year, to move pairs. As we rode out of the corral, conversations mostly were about the route we would travel, who would be designated to go ahead and open gates, or how many of us should ride drag and push the babies along. Someone made a comment about wrecks from previous years and hoped this trip would be easier. One of the outsider fellows protested that we ought not be apprehensive; after all, we had a good crew of experienced hands.
My son just shook his head and replied, “All I can say is, if you’re a praying man, start now.”
I hope you’re all praying people and that you started quite some time back. Keep it up, there’s a long trail ahead of us.