Bovine Cuteness
There is something comforting about the bucolic scene of cows in pasture, especially when the calves are born.
(Photo by Sue Cauhape)
Returning from a Bay Area holiday visit, we drove out of the canyon at Woodfords into the Carson Valley. After the glare of California's green landscape in winter, the bleak colors of Nevada shocked my senses. A sudden surge of winter blues hit me. There is something in this valley, however, that cheered me up as we drove past huge pastures along the Highway 88. Bovines, epecifically, calves.
February, the most winter-weary month of the year, is when the calves are usually born. Baby animals are the essence of cuteness, but cows of any age have a quirky countenance that brings out the "aw" factor, at least for me. Calves just bowl me over with their playful exuberance. But why do they time their births for February? Apparently, it's a tradition that goes back to ancient times.
Imbolc on February 1st is one of the four major Sabbaths on the Wiccan calendar. As the mid point between Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox, it's the end of hibernation and the beginning of the growing season. Already in the fields of western Nevada, shoots of wheat grass emerge as a velvety green hint of Spring.
When calves born in February have weaned from their mother's milk, the new spring grass is available for them to eat. In reality, cows can bear their young at any time of the year, but ranchers often schedule the copulations between cows and bulls to allow this late winter baby drop in the snow. That way, the calf can mature through the warmer months when open range or pasture grazing is at its best.
To celebrate this annual tradition, Carson Valley holds the Eagles and Agriculture Festival, which starts today, Feb. 8th, and runs through this weekend. Photographers, birders, and other nature lovers can tour local ranches and watch migrating bald eagles feast upon the afterbirths of calves. The festivities include a dinner, a display of live raptors, and an art and photo show and tours of local ranches. Many people stop along Hwys 395 and 88, binoculars in hand, to catch sight of this symbiotic relationship between domestic and wild animals.
While bald eagles are big, calves are bigger. Why struggle flying away with a calf when its fresh umbilicus is right there to snatch for a snack? Their migration to northern nesting spots is long and treacherous. Carson Valley is one of the stops along the way for rest and nourishment. It's one of those natural processes that prove that the cattle business doesn't really disrupt wildlife, but actually improves conditions for them and the environment.
Cattle hooves churn up the soil, mixing in their feces to nourish the grass. Also, a pasture full of cows is better than a subdivision. Think traffic congestion, pollution, water usage, and compaction of earth affecting underground rivers.
Canada Geese like it so much here, they rarely leave. (photo by Sue Cauhape)
There are so many cattle ranches in Carson Valley I've heard it referred to as "cow land." This valley's Danish and German pioneers established several ranches in the mid 1800s that supported a dairy and meat industry. Most are still raising cattle and hay, but economic and regulatory conditions are forcing ranchers to look for other ways to make a living. Wedding venues, vacation retreats, and these tours through the Eagles and Agriculture Festival are a few of these efforts to diversify. There were also several sheep operations run by Basque immigrants, but the number of those has been reduced to one rancher who now supplies sheep to graze off wildfire prone lands.
For the first two years of their lives, calves feed on rich grass relatively free of predators. The cowboy's job here is low-key, leaving the cows to wander huge sections of land with only the occasional "round-up" to move them in rotation. Also, the herds will be turned out to open ranges where permitted or on private land holdings. Bentley Ranch used to run cattle in the Pine Nut Mountains before the ranch was put on the market. The manager stated during a local club meeting that there's no problem between the Bentley herd and the Fish Spring wild horses.
Cattle and sheep used to graze in the mountains south of Lake Tahoe and around Markleeville, CA. No longer permitted to do this, however, has created a fire prone area which now displays a scorched landscape from the Tamarack and Caldor fires. Every year, wildfires burn this region, costing taxpayers and local residents who have lost their properties billions of dollars. Wild animals in these burned areas have migrated across the valley, endangering their lives from traffic and neighborhood conflicts with humans.
Thus, the rage some urbanites turn toward the meat industry is misplaced and doesn't appreciate the benefits these domestics offer for the environment and our food supply.
Like any hard-wired omnivore, I enjoy a tasty cut of meat to augment the veggies. Meanwhile, I must have a denial factor in my genes as I stop next to a meadow full of cows who I know will someday appear on my plate. I love to laugh at the young'uns cavorting around. Like most babies, they're filled with wonder and excitement as they explore their childhood paradise. Like every animal, humans too, they will suffer that day when their lives will end. Hopefully, their final hour will come at a Temple Grandin-approved abattoir.
Until that day, however, they will enjoy a life that we humans would probably envy. Their destiny, both at their debut and their end, is to provide food. Let's try to be mindful of that as we weigh the affect of our own presence upon our planet with theirs. Cow pastures of grass sequesters carbon as effectively as trees. The vast, machine-intensive industrial farms that produce cereals and vegetables create monocultures that threaten pollinators searching for pollen-rich food. Â
Eagles and Agriculture offers a great opportunity to talk directly to the people who produce our food. Perhaps it's time to listen to their side of the story.
(Photo by Cheryl Broumley)
Below are a pair of local wildlife photographers that will blow your minds:
Cheryl Broumley posts her photos of the Fish Springs wild horses on the Pine Nuts Wild Horse Advocates FB page. https://www.facebook.com/Wildhorseadvocates
John T. Humphreys visits the wild horse ranges daily and also photographs pictures of eagles and other wildlife in the area. His beautiful photos appear on the Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates FB page every day.
Interlude
I walk along the highway
as my husband naps in the Jeep.
My legs stretch with each step
stirring the blood in cramped knees.
February sunshine beats down
warm through chilled air.
It glares off mountain ice fields,
dares bunches of grass to shoot up
green at my feet. Willows abound
with starlings and crows.
Cows watch me across the road.
Traffic hisses past them all day,
but a solitary walker unnerves them.
You never know what a human will do....
Their faces glow in sunlight, flinching
and, one by one, spin in alarm
as I call out to taunt their silliness.
I walk away feeling my body straighten
As muscles unfold and air fills my lungs.
My bones slide into place again with ease.
Water gurgles under a copse of trees.
Canada geese call in the distance.
I soak the waning glow of afternoon,
bottle it’s warmth inside me to return
to our home still buried in gloom.
I pivot toward the Jeep. This sudden move
causes cows to run in ponderous gait.
One swings around with a high hop
loping to a stop to check my advance
not knowing how the amusement
of  her antics feeds my winter-worn soul.
She stares at me en guard
as I walk to the Jeep
stretching my legs.
A beautiful post, Sue, thank you. I love cows - they're fabulous creatures. A treat of a read. 😘
Ah, loved this poem.