There are many things around the ranch that are unexpected. One thing that always brings an adrenaline rush to Greg and me is when an animal gets out. It happens more than it should, and we have several crazy stories about it. So, to give you a few laughs, here are a couple of them:
Just last week,
I woke up in the middle of the night to this horrible sound. It was if someone was struggling at breathing and frankly dying. It was so peculiar that I got out of bed to make sure Greg & Peyton were both still breathing. Then I looked out the window. To my astonishment, I saw our Goldendoodle Amber standing next to Pilgrim our COW right outside our bedroom window. Like right in my front yard.
After I discovered this, I woke Greg up, and we both put coats on (because it was freezing outside) and shoes. I jumped in the Gator, Greg on foot, in hopes of getting Pilgrim back in his pasture.
I drove up and opened the gate to the pasture, and I got Amber in the Gator with me (because she definitely would not be any help). Then we tried to get behind the cow to guide him back into the pasture. He ran halfway to the highway and into a neighbor’s yards, but it could have been much, much worse. THANKFULLY, it went as smooth as it did, and we were able to get him guided back into the pasture. At 2 am in the morning, I could not have been happier about how easy it was. It could have gone horrible. We could have had a cow still running around the airport or in people’s yards.
You may ask how he got out… Greg left a gate open…
Another Story…
We originally had two emus. One got out and ran into a 5-acre field of old overgrown Christmas trees which borders our property. Some of our neighbors came over to help us corral and catch the over-sized bird. Image four adults running around trying to catch a bird. It was crazy, and we were getting nowhere.
After some time, Greg had his lasso (which he doesn’t know how to use), and another guy had a rope. They finally got the two ropes around the bird’s neck, both pulling in opposite directions to guide it back to the gate and not get kicked. The lesson learned here is not to let your neighbor make an actual noose. So, as we lead the bird through the trees and back to our property, the rope tightened as it tossed its head back and forth trying to get away. Then, before any of us could do anything, it had happened. The emu slit its own throat. It had taken its talon and tried to get the rope off, but instead it punctured its esophagus with the sharp talon and pulled up. This created a slit about a footlong… the bird dropped and bled out right there.
We then threw the carcass into the gator, headed home and butchered it (very unplanned).
We have so many other similar stories with sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc running around in our yard or through the neighborhood. It’s kinda funny and then kinda not. There is no doubt though that it all makes life more interesting!
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