The
morning after the last column appeared, it became time for Sharon to leave for
work. Walking toward the car we noted
Spirit standing at the gate as she does when she wants her grain. Sharon asked if the other cattle were far
enough away to let her eat her breakfast.
"Oh,"
I assured her, "she'll eat so fast they'll never get here in
time." Spirit eats very quickly,
and usually has the rubber feeding pan empty in a very short time. So, I gave her a big scoop.
I didn't take into account the speed of Ghost, the Charolais bull. This big guy was not far from the gate
leading into the back field, and stood at least one hundred yards away. He was even looking the other direction. I thought by the time he walked all the way to the house, Spirit would have time to eat.
When Sharon leaves for work I always carry
her lunch out to the car and put it in the rolling box she takes into work,
then place her travel coffee mug in the cup holder between the seats. As she goes down the drive I wave goodbye
before returning to the house.
As
Sharon disappeared over the top cattleguard, I started into the house, only to
find Spirit standing on the side of the kennel well away from her feeding
pan. Ghost had arrived in a big
hurry. Spirit is much too shy and not
aggressive enough to try to protect her grain.
Of course, Ghost is used to getting his way anywhere he goes.
It
became obvious that Ghost had walked quickly across the pasture, shoved Spirit
out of the way, and was busily munching down on the grain. Well, so much for the idea Spirit would get
to eat unimpeded.
My
first thought was to open the gate, shoo Ghost away, then let Spirit come back
and finish her breakfast. Ghost is not
overly aggressive, but at 1,200 pounds he doesn't let much stop him.
As I
stepped toward him, he backed away a few steps, but definitely let me know he
wasn't happy about it by bobbing his head in what I recognized as a threatening
manner. I've been around cattle enough
to know he was just as liable to step forward and try to buffalo me, as I was
doing to him. I watched him carefully
and shouted at him. This seemed to hold
him at bay, at least for the moment.
Spirit
saw her opportunity, came back around the tree and hustled up to the pan. I glanced over my shoulder to see how she was
going, only to find the pan was actually empty.
She had eaten a little at first, but Ghost had finished it off. Reluctantly I stepped back through the gate
and let him return to lick the pan clean.
Standing
at the gate watching Ghost lick the bottom of the pan, I spied the red-eyed
cow, the one Sharon had talked to. She
was hustling up the hill toward Ghost.
She intended to get in on the treat.
The
following pictures tell the whole story.
She wanted just a taste, but Ghost would have none of it even though the
pan was empty. After all, he is the herd sire.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Here are the sequential pictures of Ghost and the Red-Eyed Cow.
The Red-Eyed cow hurries up to the feeding area, but Ghost butts her away.
So she went around to the other side to see if that worked any better.
Even though there is no grain in the pan, Ghost is not having any part of sharing with her.
She butts back a little and gets her nose into the pan, only to find it empty.
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