#20 Shadow And Image
When we left off yesterday’s story, we had just found #20 in the brush of the riparian zone as the daylight was waning and we left her there with her newborn calf until the next day.
The morning feeding had #20 with her calf right by the bridge with the rest of the main herd. I was doing the feeding alone that morning because Mike was on his way down the Willamette Valley to get a load of grain. I fed the main herd at the outdoor feeders across the river and rushed back across the bridge to feed #20 so she did not try to ford the river with her baby.
When Mike got home with grain, we first used the tractor to unload the pickup then put the flat pallet on the tines to haul the baby. We put a small halter on the baby and Mike set it on the pallet, I crawled on top to hold the baby in place while Mike backed the tractor through the river to the correct side for the nursery field. #20 was not pleased with me on top of her baby, she stayed really close while we traversed the river and bellowed the whole time with the baby talking back to her.
Across the river and up past the landing, Mike continued backing until we got into the nursery field when I took the halter off the baby. #20 and her baby took off into the field well away from the other cow/calf pairs.
Welcome to the farm SAF Image born 3/23/21, a good sized bull weighing in at 75 lbs.
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Great picture, but the picture I had in my mind from your writing was you on top of the calf on top of the pallet with mom bellowing alongside. I know you can’t take a picture while being in the middle of that drama. Maybe Mike should have a camera, too?
Heaven forbid, I will not give Mike a camera! I cannot allow him to get distracted from his amazing driving skills. This task had him backing the tractor along the slippery rocks in the river and not tipping into deeper pools that would send me and the calf into the drink.