What do you do when a strange car pulls into your driveway at 9:30 on Saturday evening? Do you go out and ask if you can help them? What if they tell you there are loose cows in your front yard? You look and see that yes, yes there are loose cows in your front yard. So you thank them, go back inside, throw on your muck boots, grab a jacket and come back out for another look. Yep, still there.
There were 4 of them. A large heifer, a smaller heifer and two calves. They were eating our weeds, which was fine and which is also why none of our neighbors spray their weeds... You never know when the somebodys livestock is coming for a visit and a snack!
At first we thought it was our next door neighbors cows. A quick thought of panic that our heifer is with their herd and she is not very people friendly. Catching her would be a chore to put it mildly. Oh boy! So hubby by this time is armed with a small flashlight and heads over to check gates and fences since they were not home. The neighbors herd called to the loose cows and soon everyone was standing around together.
Well the girls were running around the house nekkid and I couldn't leave them alone so on went the pajamas, put the car seats in the van, get the girls loaded up and off we went. We were off to herd cattle in the minivan. The girls thought it was great!
Hubby had gone to the neighbors and had checked all the gates- checked the fences and nothing. All of their cows, steers and the bull were where they were supposed to be. Now the big questions were- Where did these come from? Who did they belong to?
Lucky for everyone, I had put the horses all in for the night. All of the pastures and turnouts were empty. So as I came down the road behind the neighbors place, the cows headed back into our open pasture, then they doubled back and headed north to the other neighbors property... Something about the headlights didn't sit well with them.
Every time the girls seen the cows, all I heard from the back seat was Holly MoooOOOooo. Holly MoooOOOooo. When I stopped next to the fence by the neighbors cows and rolled down the window for them- the cows mooed back and it made the girls' night. That was the best. thing. EVER!
I suggested opening up a fence panel and moving the cows into our back pasture for the night, so hubby jumped in and we went back to the house to get tools to undo the clamps. Once the panel was swung open, we went back for the cows. Hubby on foot, me and the girls in the van. The cows didn't exactly cooperate at first, me and the girls ended up going back around the block to come up between the neighbors pastures and block off the road.
The cows were pretty quiet and went into the pasture with no problem. Hubby clamped the panels back together as I drove back around to the front and in our driveway. I headed out back and the girls sat wide eyed and watched as we threw some hay to the cows to help them settle in for the night. I had grabbed my cell phone and shot a quick email out to the neighborhood through our irrigation association. I had been on the phone with our neighbor in charge of that while we were herding the cows. She had no idea who the cows belonged to either.
The next morning our neighbor Harry showed up and was thankful his cows were safe. His wife Nancy said that by the way the gate was left open, they thought the cows had been stolen. He was dealing with the Renaissance Festival and we were headed to the Scottsdale Arabian show in the morning so it was decided, the cows were fine out back and he would pick them up on Monday morning.
All's well that ends well, but the whole time I was thinking to myself- this ranks right up there with something crazy that Mikey and Wade (of the Horse Shoeing Housewife blog) would be doing. It made me laugh to think that between the antics there and us herding cows in the dark with the minivan, people must sure wonder about living in Arizona... Yes the heat has affected the brain of some of the residents. Couldn't you tell?
8 comments:
Even here in California we have crazy things happin[ out in the country too.
One night I heard ghostly moaning, shrill whinnying and hoofbeats in the road that seemed to have no horses. I finally pulled on my muck boots under my house coat, and 8 months pregnant toddled out to look for the loose horses. They came streaming around the corner when they heard the barn door open, manes flashing in the moonlight. I didn't recognize a one of them.
I put them into my corral and threw a lot of food in too. My non-horsey husband was having a kiniption fit, thinking I would get hurt by the wild strange horses, but I knew they were just frightened and lost.
I went to the local feed store the next day and put up an ad. It took a week for their owners to find me on my mountain, but they finally did. When they left they took one of my goats along with them as a companion. I had my baby a week later!
Sounds like the girls enjoyed chasing cows at night-LOL.
Ya know, I think a lot of us have crazy things happen and think about Mikey-Heehee.
Vaquerogirl- Hubby remarked that I had "quite the look going" when the cows owners showed up and I went out in my muck boots and bathrobe to show him they were fine out back.
Did he miss the memo about muck boots going with everything?
BEC's- I wonder if her and Wade are just setting the standard for strange things happening. I know a lot of us get our share.
The girls had a blast and were really good considering I put their sleepers on with no diapers and not one accident. Wahoo! They were awake for it all too, being way past their bedtime. Thankfully it was a weekend.
Yeah...AND!? Muck boots go with everything. They do.
A strange horse jumped through, not over, our fence. Poor lost guy was the worst built horse I'd ever seen, well fed though, obviously lost. Doctored him up, started calling around, neighbors came over and got him. Lovely people, and the horse was a movie star, had played the part of the busted up racehorse!
I'll be the girls squealed when the cows Mooo'd for them. That's very cool. Too bad you have no pictures of this escapade. Sounds like it was definitely camera worthy.
I can attest to the fact crazy things happen everywhere, not just in Arizona. And actually on my trip to Tulsa I think Arizona was one of the few states I didn't have some sort of catastrophe in. LOL Anyway back to stuff, we've had cows and horses both here over the years, although I did not herd either with a mini van and I actually lured the horses onto my property so they wouldn't get killed on the main highway which is the most dangerous highway in the state. Critters escape everywhere.
I must admit I also have worn some strange attire with my Muck boots. I actually thought that was a requirement. LOL
Muck boots + flannel nighty + bedhead = AWESOME.
It's very nice when you have good relations with your neighbors!!!!!
Moved my horse this week to a place only 1.8 miles from my house, with 50-odd acres of hilly pasture & no other quarter horses. Fat & happy old horses. $70/month cheaper, too. No indoor arena, but that's OK. It's much more my speed than the western pleasure barn I was at before.
Cattypex- Love the visual on that one! Glad to hear Chip is closer to home and it sounds like a wonderful place.
RR-To the girls, every cow is a Holly Moo. Everything with spots- is also a Holly Moo, even the neighbors paint horse. When the cows mooed to them they both mooed back. It was pretty funny and I think even the cows enjoyed it.
Kestrel- Just goes to show, even the horses without the greatest conformation have their place in the world. Too bad not everyone can see it that way.
Sounds liek a great way to entertain the kids,if not the parents. Yup something about AZ seems to bring out the adventurer! I have chase cows in a truck, but never a mini van. I have however done the jammies qands muck boots ,hoping all along that no one would see!
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