T.H. called shortly after leaving the house this morning. “There’s a steer out on the highway. He’s just south of the cattle guard. Why don’t you get Puncher and your 4-wheeler and see if you can get him in.”
Woo Hooo! Me and Puncher, a real mission!!! By ourselves!!
Here comes his always very explicit instructions. “Get around him to the south and drive him north back to the cattle guard. That’s probably where he got out. Open the gate. Don’t let Puncher push him through the fence. I don’t have time to fix it today.”
T.H. is always very specific with his instructions. He has in his mind, the simplest, most efficient way of how things “should” go. And I always pretend to intend to specifically follow them. Less stress for both of us.
We leap into action after a cup of coffee and well… I still had to get dressed.
I throw a leg over “Ol Red”. Say a little prayer to the Goddess of Cowdogs and Cowgirls:
“Goddess, please let us have a safe and successful mission.
And if not, please give me enough time to destroy the evidence. “
The dog can fly. Literally.
This has nothing to do with my story.
Makes me laugh out loud eventhough I see her fly everyday
It’s a bird….It’s a plane….(sorry)
We get to the highway which is about a mile. I open the gate. Puncher hops on for the trip down the pavement. Well, I can already see the first flaw in T.H.’s plan. The steer is about 3/4 mile south of the cattle guard. Which is not “just south”. And his buddies are directly across the fence to the west.
This is where my independent thinking comes into play. I have years of experience of not knowing what to do. Independent thinking is my forte.
We get south of the steer and it is immediately evident to me that that steer is not going north.
I had Puncher push him a little bit north, then a little bit south. Maybe we could untrack him. Gently. Don’t want to tear up the fence beyond what I can fix myself.
It was clearly evident to me that he was only going one direction.
And that was due west….over or through.
There was nothing left for us to do but watch and wait. And not for long.
He sticks his head and shoulder through to test it.
He backs up and makes a short run at it.
I hear that familiar screech and twang of the wire.
Under one wire, over three. Sort of over and through.
I swear we never but a tooth on him!! I have pictures.
Luckily I was able to quickly put the ol’ “Basco Twist” on the wire.
Thank you Goddess. Prayer answered. Evidence destroyed.
T.H. asks me at lunch. “Did you have any trouble getting the steer in?”
I didn’t even have to lie.
Love, Cowgirl Red aka Terah
P.S. This particular steer is what we call “breechy”. He’s been out before. It seems he always has to see what’s on the other side. His momma was probably the same way.
P.S.S. We need rain. Hard to look at pictures of dry land.
I love to see dogs fly. Luna (my dog) rarely gets to a place where she can fly. We live in town and I don't know anyone that has an area where she can run without worry that she will be hit by a car. She has no street smarts. So on the rare occasion she gets to run to her hearts delight we are all happy. That steer is naughty no matter what you call it. I am glad you were able to destroy the evidence.
Absolutely love the flying Puncher!! I'd be giggling the whole time.
I devour your stories with pictures! Does the errant steer get cut by the barbed wire? What a stinker. 😉
I wish I could send you some of our rain!!
Congrats on mission accomplished! :):)
Lisa, Luna is a beautiful name. I worry about cars too out here. The UPS man mostly. Puncher gets to run alot but when she's not with me, she is in her pen. Even on ranches, dogs that run loose all the time don't live very long.
Rita, you make make day every time you leave a comment. The cattle don't usually get cut when they go through the barbed wire. They have pretty thick hides to go with their thick skulls. Now a horse will get sliced up pretty bad on the barbed wire. Thanks. Terah. Xoxo
And another successful mission by Puncher the Wonder flying dog and Free Thinking CowGirlRed… love this story Terah…. oh yes we need rain too…it hasn't rained in months… we are on water restrictions, the clouds are rolling in and rolling past and there goes another one…will be doing the ol' rain dance soon….. have a good week….
LOVE that dog. Its a book I think..The adventures of Puncher The Flying Dog. So cool. :o)
So sad about the dry land. This weather is crazy isn't it? Floods and droughts, and tornados…..its so worrisome. We have just seen the sun once in the last 7 days. Wet and cold.
xo
You always have me laughing…and now your flying dog and the cow always on the wrong side of the fence does too.