Ranch Life – Page 2 – The Adventures of Gate Girl

Vacation

Everyone needs to relax once in a while. A vacation for us is going to visit the grandchildren in FL or NC. January seemed like a good month to visit the FL boys.

We try to find a “slow” time to go, but that is hard to come by. Right now the cows are still on stockpiled grass, the steer calves have been sold, the heifer calves have been turned out and we have two weeks before calving starts. That is as good as it will get. Let’s go!

My brother, Thad will feed the bred heifers each day and keep hay out to them. Justine will be by to check on things and feed the dog. My parents will swing by daily, also. We know we are leaving things in capable hands. We’re ready to get on that plane and head south to see the boys!

We got to watch Carter play flag football!

Henry’s baseball season hasn’t started yet, but we watched him hit golf balls and play driveway basketball!

Carter practicing with his bow as the sun set. We had to keep coming up with harder challenges for him. He is a great shot!

Fishing! Notice the coats. It’s one of the coldest January’s on record. It’s supposed to warm up after we leave, of course!

It was so good to visit! They grow up so fast!

A beautiful sunset and time to head back to Missouri.

Until next time.

Don’t forget to shut the gate!

Waiting

The cows are all home, preg checked, vaccinated, and turned out to wait. I took a run through them tonight on the 4 wheeler. I couldn’t pass up a 5o degree day in January. Here are some pictures of the cows and the wildlife I saw.

I never go out this time of year without seeing at least a dozen deer.

Well rounded mama cows! These girls are very happy, but I’m getting impatient. Another month and calves will start dropping!

Look closely! This bobcat ran in front of me when I went through some timber. He stopped just off the road thinking he was well hidden.

The sun is setting. Time to head back to the house!

Until next time!

Don’t forget to shut the gate!

Twelve Months from the Deck

The end of the year is a good time to look at where you’ve been and where you are going next. 2020 is a year that I’m glad to bid good-bye and I have my fingers and toes crossed that 2021 will be better!!! No matter what goes on “out in the world” some things don’t change. We roll through the seasons, watching from the window as the snow flies, the grass grows and the leaves change. This the view from our deck.

January – The world is cold and colored in shades of brown and gray. A blue sky is the best we can hope for. If you look closely you will see the tractor is getting hay from the hay pile.

February means snow and new calves to keep us busy.

March drops hints that spring is coming. A warm day here and there, a touch of green in the pastures, and an abundance of calves .

Green returns to the color scheme off the deck as April days lengthen and warm. The cows and calves have all been moved to summer pastures so we can enjoy the sunshine!

May means all shades of green. The trees are covered with leaves and the grass gets taller every day.

June means heat and humidity. The hay continues to grow. Do you see the four turkeys?

July! Making hay while the sun shines! Winter seems so far away even though that’s what we are preparing for as we roll through the hay.

Time rolls on. August arrives and the calves born in February start coming home. The hay field grows back up to be ready for the cows this winter.

Brilliant October color we enjoy and store away for those bleak, gray days coming. Native warm season grasses turn bright shades of yellow with touches of pink, purple and blue.

An early dusting of snow in November. Good thing we spent the summer baling hay!

I can see at least one deer out in the field on this frosty December morning.

Wishing you all the best for 2021! Happy New Year!

Until next time.

Don’t forget to shut the gate!

A True Crime story

Help! My baby has been stolen!

The morning started out like any other morning during calving season. We loaded our gear and headed out on the beat. First stop will be the North Bottom pasture which houses 60 bred heifers. We had noticed a heifer acting like she was going to calve last night so we are expecting at least one new baby.

We find and tag a new calf as soon as we go through the gate, but not the one we were expecting. We find another new one, but not the one we are looking for. Finally there is number 4, but she doesn’t have a calf. She doesn’t act like she is trying to have a calf and she looks “empty”.

Hmmm, this is a puzzle. Detective work is never easy with cattle since you can’t question the witnesses. We do a routine search of the neighborhood, but don’t find any unidentified bodies dead or alive. The next step would be checking outside the pasture in case the calf had somehow gotten under the fence, but maybe we need to take another look at the heifers.

The perpetrator of this heinous crime, #14. She was found guilty and sentenced to solitary confinement until she has her own calf.

This time through we find #4 staring longingly at the first calf we tagged this morning, #14. We took a closer look at #14. She does not look like she has calved. Could it be that she has taken #4’s baby? We sit back an watch for a few minutes. Every time #4 tries to get close to the calf #14 circles in front of her. Now the clues all make sense. #14 thought she could take #4’s baby and we fell for it. The calf is wearing #14 in his ear!

Time to straighten this mess out. We settle for the ATV team instead of SWAT to force #14 to release the kidnapped baby. As we drive #14 out of the pasture and to the pen #4 rushes in and starts licking her baby. It’s a joyful reunion.

#14 will do her time in the house pen where there are no babies for her to steal until she has her own.

This story is actually not that unusual, particularly with first calf heifers. Remember they are all close to calving so hormone levels are high and that urge to “mother” is a strong instinct. That instinct means survival in all species. These girls will all make good mothers, but sometimes it takes a little help from us.

Until next time.

Don’t forget to close the gate!

Critters

It’s a cold, cloudy, muddy, and dreary January day. I need a pick me up, something to remind me that spring and summer are coming. Here are some of my favorite “critter” pictures to brighten my day and hopefully yours too

The graceful critters.

Baby critters

A mama fox raised her litter in a stack of big bales. They didn’t seem to mind when I snapped frame after frame of them wrestling and playing. She only stayed one year, but I got to take pictures as they grew up.

The feathered critters.

The eagles come every winter and stay until spring. They are amazing to watch and photograph!

This mama killdeer didn’t appreciate me taking pictures of her little ones. She tried over and over to lure me away by faking a broken wing.

Scary critters. Don’t be fooled by that snapping turtle. He can move a lot faster than you think.

Four legged and two legged critters that love to play in the creek.

Some strange looking critters.

The strangest critter ever!

Bigfoot shows up every once in awhile to fascinate and scare the little kids. The big kid in the costume now was once one of those little kids!

Hope these pictures brightened your gloomy January day. Spring and summer will be here soon!

Until next time.

Don’t forget to close the gate.

What is a gate girl?

Gate girls aren’t super-heroes. We are ranch women. Also know as the “hired-hand”, “the right-hand” and a few other names that pop out in high stress situations!

We don’t get to wear a cool cape or mask, unless you count the camo face mask I wear when the wind chill is negative 10.

We unchain, unwire, untie, swing, drag or carry gates so that trucks, tractors and livestock can go through them.

It doesn’t matter if the dust is blowing, the rain falling or the snow flying. It doesn’t matter if the mud is so deep you lose your boots or the ice is so thick that you have to beat the gate chain loose with a hammer. The work has to be done. The livestock is waiting…for you.

We take care of babies, we feed the hungry and we nurse the sick. Fur, feathers or skin…it doesn’t matter. We care for all of them. We are there at 2 am when a calf has to be pulled, we are knee deep in ice cold water helping repair water-gaps and we are there bright and early waiting for the door to unlock at the parts store. We help build fence, repair machinery and bale hay. We are that second pair of hands that everyone wishes for sometimes. We also do the laundry, pay the bills and keep the books. We clean up mud, blood, manure and oil. And then we clean some more.

Hmmm, maybe we are superheroes.

Is it worth it? Sometimes it’s hard to remember when you are checking cows at 2:00 in the morning and it’s 15 degrees with blowing snow, but it is all worth it.

And grandchildren playing in the water!

Yup, it’s definitely worth it.

Until next time.

Don’t forget to close the gate!