See post below. This is where the cattle spend the night. They come in one at a time to the immediate left of where I was standing, and go directly to their respective stanchions, actually inserting their heads into the device, at which time John or Bonnie or a hired hand move the lever on the left clockwise to lock them in place. Notice the bedding (lighter) and the feed (darker), and the automated manure removal system. The temperature is probably in the mid 50’s when they come in, and warmer in the morning from all the body heat.
John and I talked about the cattle; he has literally spent all his life with this breed. The one story that I’ve been trying to wrap my head around was in answer to my question about coyotes – whether they ever bother the smaller ones. He said one morning a few years ago, he came into a pasture where about twenty cattle had spent the night, and saw them in a wide circle, heads facing out. It turns out a calf was born in their midst earlier that night, and with hungry coyotes on the scene, the herd had surrounded both mother and calf to protect them.
We are slowly moving towards a deeper understanding of plant and animal intelligence; the recent book “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer, will nudge us even further along. She is a Native American botanist who considers plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. It’s a remarkable read, bridging as it does the worlds of myth and science, and as my friend Mike Hamer (who recommended it) said, ” it will bring a few tears to your eyes..”
This was the scene late one afternoon in early January at Maple Breeze Farm, about two hours before dark. The temperature that night was headed toward minus five degrees, before the wind chill. It was about twenty at the time of the photo. The cattle (American Milking Devons) were clearly ready for the shelter of the barn, just out of view on the left.
A few years ago, I was driving on a lonesome back road deep in northern VT, shortly before sunrise. I came upon a magnificent draft horse standing alone in a hilly pasture, frosty breath streaming from his nostrils. I quickly pulled over and got out of my car. Alas it was too abrupt a change – the car stopping, the door opening, a human – and it seemed to bring him out of an early morning reverie. He turned his head slowly to look at me, and the moment for the photograph in my mind’s eye had passed. I could only apologize for intruding, and interrupting his communion with the beauty and stillness of that early morning.
This photo above of the English Longhorn came much easier, and though the animal is watchful, I was perhaps less an intrusion. It is the equal to the one that formed in my mind’s eye when I first came upon the scene (which I cannot often say).
Pigs are highly intelligent creatures, ranking fourth in the animal world, behind only chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants. My favorite bit of pig info from a quick Internet search:
“Last week (2009), an international team of biologists released the first draft sequence of the pig genome, the complete set of genetic instructions for making the ruddy-furred Duroc breed of Sus scrofa. Even on a cursory glance, “the pig genome compares favorably with the human genome,” said Lawrence Schook of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the team leaders. “Very large sections are maintained in complete pieces,” he said, barely changed in the 100-million-plus years since the ancestors of hogs and humans diverged.” NY TIMES (11/9/2009)
Whatever that means.
This little gal quickly darted back into her shelter on my very first approach, but lingered outside when I returned a short time later.
