When Mike Is Away

You have heard the stories before about when Mike goes away from the farm, the critters or family seems to get into trouble of some sort. Mike had only been gone from just after 4am until 3pm but we found problems with the main herd when we went across the river to feed. We loaded the tractor with hay and was on our way to the outdoor mangers but there were only a few critters there waiting for dinner. Mike called with his loud cow call voice and expected to see a bunch of them come running down off the hill for the meal but nine animals remained missing. Since we were late getting the evening chores started it was near dark at this point and the fog had started to obliterate the hillside, we had to call off the search and hope that the missing critters would be back by morning feeding time.

They were not.

We fed what was remaining of the main herd and after we had all the other morning chores done, Butler the dog and I donned our waterproof/tear-proof clothing for a walk up the hill.

Butler and I meandered up and over the hill to the backside. We walked the path around the stump on a sharp corner. We tread along the small skid roads that Mike had made last summer during logging. We headed back toward the big cedars and aimed for the tank-trap road. No matter where we went, I could not find enough fresh tracks to think that I was following more than a couple of critters and couldn’t be sure if the tracks were elk or cow for that matter.

Mike was in a holding pattern at the barn thinking that if I could not find any tracks soon, he would jump in the pickup and drive to the back of the property from the commercial landowner that meets the property line. That is about a half hour drive with 10 miles of loops and switchbacks with typical narrow spacing of logging roads.

About the time I was ready to have Mike make the drive, I spotted some fresh poop and had definitely found the spot where the bunch of them had bedded down last night. They had not went a wandering off the property at least. Then I found some fresh footprints. They were not all going one direction but meandering around to the different openings in the forest that supports green grass along with branches from trees that had toppled during our snow event. After a couple more bends in the road I spotted one of the missing cows, then another and another. At first I only thought I found eight of the nine but one was laying down on the far side of an old stump. When she stood up, I was surprised to find a calf by her side.

It appears that one cow had headed uphill the day before to deliver her baby and eight others joined her on her journey!

I was able to get most of the carefree wanderers to begin the descent down the hill with the exception of the cow and her new baby and one heifer (female before she has had a calf) that headed off the wrong direction. Mike moved to a part of the hill where the animals could hear him and he called them down while I looked for the remaining trio.

Tomorrow you will hear the story of the new arrival.