Yesterday morning, I had a wonderful surprise when feeding!
It wasn't the flowers, although I was completely shocked to see them already blooming just two days after the snow melted off them.
I remember trying to pick these when I was a kid and they were impossible...now I know it's because they bloom in impossible places at impossible times. Town kids get dandelions, ranch kids find these little rock flowers.
It wasn't the lonely sage hen who blends so brilliantly into the prairie that it looks like a patch of grass shifting slowly. Sage hens are r-e-a-l-l-y slow. And I'm not sure they're all that bright. They are quite deliberate birds, so when I rousted this one out of her hiding hole by nearly driving a 4 wheeler over her, she was less scared than annoyed. I could tell she was thinking, "Well, NOW I have to find ANOTHER perfect sagebrush to sun in and it took most of this morning to find THIS one...huff!" (If you look closely at the photo, you'll catch the scowl.) (Who knew sage hens scowled?!?!)
My wonderful surprise was Daisy's new baby! All spring, I've been worrying that perhaps Daisy was open, no calf, because she didn't look big enough. About a week ago, though, she started bagging up and looking a wee bit fatter, so we decided she was just going to be a late calver. I kept telling the Farmer that she was so smart that she was waiting until the spring snow storms were over. Bless her little bovine heart, she proved me right!
I hadn't been out with the guys feeding for a couple days, so I hadn't seen the cows or checked on Daisy. But when I drove in the Coal Mine pasture that morning, I could see this little cow with a new baby so I drove the pickup over to check it out.
Daisy just had finished cleaning the calf off as I pulled up. It was almost as though she'd timed it exactly so I'd be the first one to see her baby that morning. She was making the little "mmmnnn" mama noises, worried about me being so close and wanting the little thing to stand up. I left a little cake for her, took proud pictures on my phone and went on to feed the other cows with my heart singing!
The Farmer tagged the calf about 20 minutes later with the OC 1 and announced it was a heifer!
Later that afternoon, I took the wheeler out and tried to get pictures. It was impossible.
I'm pleased to introduce little Violet to you all!
(She's just exquisitely tiny and perfect...AND she can run like crazy. Here she is, 5 hours old.)
Daisy is such a good mama! So...along with being the World's Most Beautiful Cow, she's also showing that she's smart, maternal and has great timing. (Remember her first calf was born on my night watch? Isn't that remarkable? What are the odds, huh?)
They finally posed for me, but only for a moment...
I should have little cow birth announcements made up, probably.
Because..you know...everyone is as thrilled and interested in this one cow as I am.
:)
