Cows are such funny creatures. Believe it or not, they are pretty friendly, curious and simple animals. If you give them food regularly, they will come and be beggars. If they are raised seeing people regularly, they won't be skittish or weirded out when people are near. Every time I go to the ranch to check cows I give them a bale of hay. They hear the rumble of the diesel and they start heading my way, mooooing the whole time. The calves learn from their mamas who come running when they hay truck arrives. The first few times they are very curious as to who these weird creatures are, but they go off what mama does and before long they are up in your business.
When it comes time to gather cows to brand, vaccinate, doctor or sort them, instead of doing it the ol' cowboy way with dogs and ropes and lots of hassle and HAW, we simply honk the horn, show them the hay and follow behind the herd on a quad or horse. We toss out small bits of hay and they follow like pros right into the corral. <knock on wood, this is how it usually happens>
Of course, occasionally, there is the crazy cow who heads for the hills! She is the one who never trusted people, whether it was a bad experience in the corrals or her own crazy mother, these few cows keep it interesting. It is these moments where we get to become tough cowboys chasing a crazy cow over the rocks, through the brush and into the hills.
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