September has proven to be a very challenging month mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Today a cow died, bloated stomach. She had a bull calf with her who spent the better part of the afternoon at her side. We herded the calf out of the field with the hope he will reunite with the remaining four cows and four calves. He’s an orphan now, but has a better chance surviving with the others than he does on his own. The area is crawling with coyotes and we know of at least one bear and possibly a momma and a cub cougar.
We repaired the fence for the rancher, hopefully the calf will stay with the herd and not return to his momma’s side. For those of you wondering, yes, the calf is mourning. It was quite moving to watch him behave. I have this vision of the calf standing next to his mother. And even though I realize it is the way of things, it is still very difficult.
