Yesterday our breakfast was rudely interrupted. We noticed that 17 pairs (cows with their calves) 2 replacement heifers and a bull were walking down the old rail bed in front of our house! So all 3 of us ran out of the house and scrambled to try and set gates to get the animals in. They got in front of us but luckily our dogs got in front of them and brought them back, so we could get them in the corral. This year we have had so much rain that the grass on the range is great, so they didn’t come home on account of not much feed left, we think it’s been getting so cold at night it feels like the end of September, not the end of August, so their internal clock is probably a bit confused and telling them to head home early. Regardless, we hauled them back out to the range. That took up a lot of the day because it took 3 loaded in the stock trailer and the haul was about one a hour and a half round trip. Where we dropped them off there was lots of grass, so we hope they will stay there for a bit and not just keep walking back home again. We are still allowed to have our cattle grazing on our crown range tenure until October 15, so we take them back up there, so we can save the grass at home for when they come home in the fall. We don’t have much grazing at home, so we have to manage the grass we do have very efficiently.

They beat us going up the road and didn’t turn into our yard, but our dog Milly got in front of them and turned them around!

Our young dog Newt pushing them up.

Macy in the corral with her breakfast still in her hand!

This is where we dropped them off on the range! See you in another month girls!