I still enjoy watching the cows across the street. Although this winter I haven’t seen the girls or last years calves. The calves must be really growing and by the time we get to see them this spring they will be almost fully grown. But I still get a glimpse, of the bull (the leader of the family) twice a day.
The whole family has been relegated to the back pasture for the winter where it is easier for the caretaker to feed them. I hope I get to see them when they are released back into the large front pasture when it greens up again this spring.
Last year there was a lot of running and kicking and frolicking when they were released into the front pasture and it was fun to watch them. They didn’t stop running and jumping until they reached the front fence and couldn’t go any farther. They reminded me of kids let out for recess because they were so excited.
There is just a corner of the back pasture that is near the house and driveway that I can see. I get to see the watch bull in the morning when the kids walk down to the school bus and as the caretaker leaves for work. He stands guard and watches them as they go down the drive.
He will hang around for awhile after they leave before going back to join his ladies for the day. Some times he will lie down, other times he stands in the corner and watches the house, driveway and their favorite pasture for a while.
At first I thought he was just pining for the freedom of the front pasture. Then I realized; as soon as the kids left on the bus and his caretaker left for work, he would quit watching. One morning the first month of school, when the cow family was staying in the front pasture he walked along beside the little girl as she headed down to meet the bus. He was inside the electric fence and she was outside it on the driveway.
He looked like a puppy following her along the drive. She stopped and looked at him and maybe said something to him several times in that walk to catch the bus. He would stop and listen and then continue to follow her all the way to the fence near the road. He stayed in the corner by the street until the bus arrived.
When she got on the bus he went back into the pasture to feed. Now he does the same thing but can’t follow her down the drive he has to watch from the corner of the back pasture. But the resemblance to a puppy (albeit a ton of puppy give or take a few hundred pounds) who could stomp a trespasser into the ground, is very evident. I would not want any animal that size coming at me for any reason let alone an angry bull.
I have confidence that if the situation arose and he thought the home, the caretaker’s family or his ladies were in danger he could get out of that pasture and get to the trespasser. For most people he would not have to actually run over us or get near us, just the sight of him coming toward us would give us a heart attack.
He is gone from the corner all day and is no doubt roaming the pasture behind the trees but is ever vigilant as a good watch bull should be. He is watchful for danger to his caretaker and the kids and his ladies and calves in the pasture.
I looked out one afternoon about 3:00 and there he was in the corner of the back pasture looking down the drive. He looked just like our cocker spaniels when it was time for my husband to come home. They would be at the screen door or in the yard watching for him.
The watch bull comes out to the corner at 3:00, sometimes by 2:30 every day, to wait and watch for the school buses that will drop off his caretaker’s kids. He will stay in the corner until all his family is home. When they are all home his job of being the watch bull is finished for the day and the dogs can take care of his human charges.
It is finally safe for him to go back into the field. He will be out of sight all evening. He now has time to spend with his ladies and his calves in the back pasture. I am sure he is tired from his job of protecting the home front all day and is ready to lie down and get some rest.
How do dogs or the watch bull tell time?? All my childhood dogs knew when I would be getting home from school and then when my dad would be coming home. They would be watching and waiting for us. Our two cockers knew when we were supposed to be home for the evening also.
Our animals seem to take on the job of protector without being asked. They alert us to intruders or tornados or watch the house when we are gone. All of our protectors take the job seriously. The watch dog bull keeps track of the humans and property in his life whether he was asked to do the job or not. To contact Sandy: [email protected]
