If you’ve ever wondered about the foibles of cows, an article in the Aug. 16 Western Producer may have answered a few questions.
In that issue, animal behaviour consultant Jon M. Watts favoured this newspaper with an article about vision in cattle and how researchers have come to believe bovines view the world. There’s no point in recounting it here; you can read the back issue at your leisure.
But it likely comes as no surprise to stock persons that cattle take a different view on things and they see both more and less than you might think.
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Case in point, the herd of a purebred cattle breeder we know. Like many owners of small, carefully managed herds, this woman handles each new calf extensively from birth through weaning through breeding through multiple calvings, grooming, halter breaking and eventual sale. The result is a friendly group of near pets who recognize her voice and figure.
A cry of “Come on, girls!” would bring them in at full trot when she visited the pasture with a bucket of grain, ready to offer a snack and some scratching along their groomed and well-bred necks.
The sight of a semi-sedate Simmental stampede caused more than one visitor to beat a retreat to the nearest fence, but the girls had only friendship on their minds.
Now, there’s a reason most cow folks wear jeans. Lifting bales and climbing fences while wearing shorts can provide dermabrasion the likes of which will never be featured on an infomercial.
But on this sunny day, one of the first of the season when the sun was hot and bright, no nasty chores were planned. It was time for our stock person to enjoy the sun and chase some winter pallour from her legs.
“Come on, girls!” she called, the grain bucket swinging against the hem of her summer cutoffs.
At the sound of her voice, the cows in the grazing herd raised their heads, took a look, and ran in the opposite direction.
The sight of bare, white legs instead of the accustomed blue jeans apparently awakened their self-preservation instincts. It scared them silly.
A less confident woman might have been affronted by this unsolicited reaction to her gams. But our cow girl got a chuckle out of it and forgave the girls their editorial comment. Her legs are quite presentable, thank you very much, notwithstanding the occasional cow- or calf-induced bruise and seasonal rubber boot ring.
And after all, having artificially inseminated the lot of them, she was on rather intimate terms with the sight of their backsides, at close range and when they are disappearing over the pasture horizon.
