Moving Cattle

Every so often I get called upon to help move sheep or cattle…..from fields they’ve ‘eaten off’ to fresh grazing.

This usually involves positioning myself at a junction or in a gateway…..then a lot of boring, standing-about waiting whilst the farmer and his dog do the necessary rounding-up in a distant field.

Once the animals hove into sight, however, it’s a job I relish.

Sometimes I simply have to wave my arms about to prevent the sheep or cattle from taking a wrong path. Sometimes I get to walk along the road behind them, chivvying them on when they’d rather stop to munch wayside grass. And then there are the times when I’m ordered to run on ahead and halt any vehicles until all things four-legged have passed by…..and I hold up my hand in best traffic-policeman fashion and smile my thanks at disgruntled motorists, hoping to earn their patience.

I think I like this job so much because it links me to the past…..to the days when the only way to move livestock from place to place was to walk alongside them. It smacks of a gentler pace of life; of being more intimately connected to the animals and to the land.

That - and the sense of power that’s mine when I get to stop the traffic!

Comments

[Kate Godin]

Sounds like a lovely job for a warm June day.

[KathyB]

Up in the Massachusetts Berkshires, my college bordered a number of working farms. Many a Friday afternoon found me and my companions planted in the car while a herd of cows made their way back for milking time. I loved it; loved watching each individual make its way with the crowd, scoping for an expression which could give way into seeing who was the nerd, the bully, the queen, the loner, etc. Imagining an internal life that couldn't possibly exist onto these creatures. Oh and the noise, the wonderful noise. What a terrific memory to conjure up. Thank you, Helen!