The Angus Boys

Every parent is a little biased about their child’s talents. So it’s not surprising that I think our Angus Boys are very clever.

This morning, Hubby had some mowing business to attend to and whilst I was sipping my morning coffee, I spied a few familiar black masses in the paddock nearest our cottage – the very paddock that I had moved those familiar black masses from yesterday. The Boys had somehow opened the gate and let themselves back in!

Down went my coffee, on went my boots, and out I headed. As I walked up to The Boys, they slowly started heading towards the very gate they’d opened. I walked ahead, and with few “Koo-mons!” we soon had a game of Follow-The-Leader! Our gentle approach has seen them become very calm and they seem to know that when we appear, we take them to greener pastures.

So within less than ten minutes, The Boys were reunited with the rest of their brothers chewing happily, even posing for photos. And I was back with my coffee!

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On the Moove

Herding cattle can be tricky. Just when you think you have them covered, there’s that little posse of attitudey cows who decide that the grass is greener on the other side – the side of the fence you don’t want them grazing. Our Angus cattle are very content, and we’ve worked out that soft encouragement works best for these boys. A few low register sounds of the “shoo” and “koo-mon” varieties seems to agree with them. Whether it’s our mutual Scottish heritage connection or sheer luck, as long as they’re heading in the direction we want them to go, I’m happy.

This morning, a good firewood collecting session had them mesmerised. Lined up along the right side of the fence watching intently as Hubby carved a fallen limb with the full-throttle chainsaw, their heads lowed to the rhythmic sounds of manmade machine. The approaching tractor added to the excitement. Their heads turned left to right as they watched the action – chainsawing man, tractor driving woman, chainsawing man, tractor driving woman – reminiscent of a good Wimbledon rally. I thought of that wonderful Far Side cartoon depicting people standing in a paddock as a carload of cows speeds by mimicking them. After a morning of providing cattle-class entertainment, I think that genius Larson is onto something.