Don't need a weatherman to let us know fall is approaching. This morning there were about 30 ducks on the pond compared to our every day two plus four ducklings. Three cormorants have also spent part of the summer fishing here.

I love to create a picture of wine on the deck during a fantastic sunset and hard work rewarded by the fruits of one's labor but life on the ranch is not without it's heartaches. Expensive machinery repairs and down time when things don't work is hard enough to accept. The uncontrollable and unpredictable weather can and usually will upset your well laid plans. But I think the hardest trial to come to grips with is the human-to-animal relationship. Being stewards of the land and large livestock you are faced with many responsibilities and can only hope for the wisdom to come to make wise decisions.

So I must share some of the overshadowing aspects of the last months because these things are part of my life and in all fairness I guess these events must be shared.

We lost two calves early on when one, born late one snowy night, ended up on the other side of the fence where the mother couldn't dry it off and we found it frozen in the morning. Another cow was unable to deliver and the vet pulled the calf out backwards. The latest cow delivered her calf in July with both front feet turned under. In order to keep an eye on it Clark had to carry it from the swamp in the back to drier ground below the house. Most times this impairment corrects itself in a short time but we soon realized this was different. We tried wrapping the feet for support but after four or five weeks the condition deteriorated.

One foot got a little stronger but the other fell off completely. Hoping the stump would callous over before any infection might set in we watched to make sure his mother would come around to feed him a couple times a day which she did. He couldn't keep up with the wanderings of the herd so he would bed down all day under one of the russian olive trees isolating himself from his peers. That was sad of itself. Then a couple days ago I noticed his "good" leg had a large sore aggravated by the flies. There was really no way to keep up with his care without great unrecoverable expense. Clark had to put him down. My small personal relationship with him as caregiver saddened me considerably. But, I am relieved that his unfortunate existance is over.
Meanwhile another calf was discovered to be bloated which can be terminal if not corrected immediately. Called the vet and he suggested putting a piece of garden hose down his throat to expell some of the gas, then a dose of penicillin. We did this a couple of times with temporary results. Then we poured a quart of mineral oil down the hose in case of constipation. Finally as a last resort, Becky and I hauled him to the vet clinic to have a permanent stint inserted into his belly. I don't think I'll gross you out with those details. But he has a premanent blow hole on the left side so you probably don't want to be caught unawares standing on that side of him.

The good news is that his appetite has improved although I still feel bad due to his isolation from the herd. Every day I go in and rinse the digested residue off of his side, apply fly spray and wipe his face down with Skin So Soft to keep the flies off of his eyes and nose assuring him that it's the latest in scents and he will have the softest face around.

Text and pictures © 2008 Mona E. Dunn