The Water Is Definitely Cold

We have break-away fences. It is the way we cope with the ups and downs of the river flow throughout the year while still trying to contain the cattle. When things work right, the high water tears through the middle of the fence that spans the water, making the path clear for the flow. In a typical year, we replace the break-away fences that wash out during the high waters of the winter time in early to mid-May. But this year, the drier weather has dropped the water level considerably early and the other day the cows got out of the field were they were supposed to be grazing. Most of the herd swam the river and got into the six acre field where we thought we had them locked out of. Mike noticed first and called the alarm, “the cows are out!”

It was all hands on deck to figure out where the breach occurred. Sure enough, the area where the break-away fence at the back end of the six acre field had been, filled with rock over the winter and made for easy crossing for the wayward cattle. When we found the area, we realized that the fence had not had the clean break that is normal. This break was not just across the river but the fence was torn from their moorings  for more than ten posts, the fence was missing well up the bank and toward the hayfield.

The first order of business to fix the breach was to find where all the t-posts, cedar slats and barb wire had gone to. By looking across the river it looked like the fence was still attached to the steep bank and the long tail of the fence trailed downstream for quite a distance and tangled with vegetation.  Someone needed to get over to the far side of river to untangle and re-stretch the wires back across the expanse of river.

There are a couple of ways to get over there, one would be to walk in Robinson Creek in the stream bed to where the creek meets the river, then one would have to walk up the river on a slippery steep bank to where the fence was attached. Another way would be to drive up the county road, go into the far, far field walk down to the river and walk downstream in the water to get to the fence. Or the third way would be to bite the bullet and go right across the river at the spot where the fence washed out.

I took a quick look at my work wear for the day. I came to the conclusion that I had my old Muck boots on and that the clothes that I was wearing would not be missed if they got ripped on the fencing. So I took off my cell phone and camera and started to wade across. I had to use two sticks to hold myself upright as I inched into the river because the water was a little swifter than the summer flow and the hard-pan rock beneath my feet were slick. I knew the water would be cold, but at each benchmark of depth say at my ankles, knees and waist, I would let out an unprompted yelp of surprise. What was an easy escape for the cattle was not so easy for human movement, it was slow going with several slips, I was soaked. Luckily it was a warm spring day so I was able to continue on.

Making it across the river, I started downstream finding the wires as I went. There was a lot of debris stuck in the fence and with all my yelping about the cold, Jackson the dog thought that I needed his help. My nutty dog loves water and was more than happy to swim across and help pull wads of grass, entwined sticks and broken wires out of the water and up onto the bank. He worked tirelessly until we were able to retrieve enough of the fencing to start dragging it back across the water to where it was supposed to be. Moving back across the river dragging several hundred feet of wires and posts was a slow go. I slid backward more steps than I walked forward several times and had to find a slightly different foothold to keep me from slipping downstream. It didn’t bother Jackson at all, he was having a great time.

When I got close enough to the bank Mike was on, he was able to throw a rope that I attached to the fence and he pulled and pulled to get the fence stretched tight once again.

Once I climbed out of the water and caught my breath we were able to get the fence securely replaced where it was supposed to be. The cows tested the area several times over the next couple of days but they found that they could not break into their favorite hayfield. The fence is secure until the next round of high water.

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