Those Crazy Cows!

Usually in the winter, the cows are fairly content staying in their fields, and not trying to escape. However, come Spring time they get a little antsy and want out! They want to be able to roam free and not be confined to their smaller pen (which mind you, is probably about 8 acres big! Not that small!)

Well, two weeks ago the cows got out, and were out long enough to roam to the highway. That is BAD BAD news, because I can tell you that when a vehicle hits a cow, nobody wins. I've seen it, and the mass destruction it causes.

 This picture was taken about 2.5 years ago on our way home from the Culbertson rodeo. The guys in this pickup were driving to their next rodeo, when they hit one of our neighbor's cows. They were ok, but their pickup was totaled. The horses they were carrying in the stock trailer were ok, but we had to call the vet to come look at a deep cut on one of their eyes. Lucky for these guys, we were the first ones to come up behind them. We were able to call the police, and chase the neighbor's cows back in. We had a tow truck come out that was big enough to carry the pickup with the horse trailer behind it. We offered to let them stay at the farm, where they could park their pickup and trailer, and put their horses in a pen for the night. They stayed at my in-laws' house, and were able to take care of the horses, and give them hay and water. One of their dad's came the next day with a new pickup to haul the trailer away, and onto the next rodeo. The damaged pickup sat in our farm yard for a couple weeks until the insurance was able to send a flatbed trailer for it.

Thankfully in our case 2 weeks ago, they were able to get the cows off of the highway with no problems. Again last week, the cows decided they wanted to escape again, but this time it was the other direction (which is better than going on the highway!) Still not great to have them escape, because then they get lost, wander away, the neighbors find them, and it's just a big ol' mess trying to get them back home.

So last weekend we went into town for breakfast, but had to come right back after finding out the diner was closed :( We're pulling back to the farmyard and Patrick says, "Oh shit, the cows are out again." We pull into the yard, and there were only 3. As soon as you pull in, they KNOW they're not supposed to be there, so they start running towards their gate. Grandpa had seen a cow looking in his dining room window, which was right before we got there, so he was already out there chasing them. It only took a couple minutes, but we got them back in.

This cow isn't supposed to be on this side of the fence...crazy cows!