A cattle guard will keep them out, yeah right!
Do you know what a cattle guard is? I take for granted that everyone knows what they are, but I imagine if you didn't grow up on or around a farm you may have no idea. When I was a little girl, they were sort of my enemy. You see, a cattle guard is designed so that a cow won't cross over into a different area. As a little girl I was always afraid I would get my foot caught. That was back when I had small feet, that is no longer a problem. We have one at the entrance to the property and another at the entrance to our fenced in yard. We have a small fenced in area where the house is. That area is protected from, well, you know, the stuff cows leave behind. It is the one place I know I don't have to watch for it. Although, driving down the road is a completely different story. Please don't think I mind, I love driving down that road. I usually have the John Denver song stuck in my head. Ok, everyone sing along...Country Road...take me home....to the place....I belong////okay stop there, I insert Louisiana, instead of West Virginia. But dodging all that manure is impossible. I think I need to make the car wash a regular part of my weekly routine.
So cattle guards, we have two. One of them works great, the other, the one leading into our yard, isn't cutting the mustard anymore. This one is made from long pipes that are welded together, spaced far enough apart that a cow could get a leg stuck in, and a ditch is dug out underneath. The problem is, the dug out part isn't as good as it used to be. Dirt has filled in between the spaces between the poles. The idea is that since the pipes are rounded, and there is space (a hole) between each of the poles, the cow won't cross. Wrong! Our cows have taught themselves to walk the cattle guard. Really, cows walking a cattle guard??? We have infiltrators all the time. We do have a gate, but we haven't had to close it prior to now. And you now why they are infiltrating our yard? Acorns. Yep, they love acorns. We are blessed to have a lot of oak trees on the property. There used to be many more, before hurricane Rita. My parents said we lost over 50 of them from the storm. Big, beautiful, mature oak trees. Thankfully, we still have a bunch surrounding the house and one right in the front yard. It is huge, and it drops thousands of acorns each year and those cows love them. They have discovered that there are plenty in the yard and they want them. I guess it is like candy for kids.
Needless to say, I chased them out of the yard today when I found them. Both of them. Thankfully, they are more afraid of me than I am of them. Abby likes to chase them out of the yard, but she got stepped on last week, so I don't want her chasing them for a while.
I guess for now, we will have to keep that gate closed to keep our visitors out. I have thought about putting Zach on task to pick up all the acorns and throw them on the other side of the fence. But, that will be for another day.
Until we meet again!
So cattle guards, we have two. One of them works great, the other, the one leading into our yard, isn't cutting the mustard anymore. This one is made from long pipes that are welded together, spaced far enough apart that a cow could get a leg stuck in, and a ditch is dug out underneath. The problem is, the dug out part isn't as good as it used to be. Dirt has filled in between the spaces between the poles. The idea is that since the pipes are rounded, and there is space (a hole) between each of the poles, the cow won't cross. Wrong! Our cows have taught themselves to walk the cattle guard. Really, cows walking a cattle guard??? We have infiltrators all the time. We do have a gate, but we haven't had to close it prior to now. And you now why they are infiltrating our yard? Acorns. Yep, they love acorns. We are blessed to have a lot of oak trees on the property. There used to be many more, before hurricane Rita. My parents said we lost over 50 of them from the storm. Big, beautiful, mature oak trees. Thankfully, we still have a bunch surrounding the house and one right in the front yard. It is huge, and it drops thousands of acorns each year and those cows love them. They have discovered that there are plenty in the yard and they want them. I guess it is like candy for kids.
Needless to say, I chased them out of the yard today when I found them. Both of them. Thankfully, they are more afraid of me than I am of them. Abby likes to chase them out of the yard, but she got stepped on last week, so I don't want her chasing them for a while.
I guess for now, we will have to keep that gate closed to keep our visitors out. I have thought about putting Zach on task to pick up all the acorns and throw them on the other side of the fence. But, that will be for another day.
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| This is our yard, no cows allowed. To the right of the picture you see the fence and the opening for where the cattle guard is. You see there were two of them enjoying he acorns today. Do you see all the oak trees? |
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| Really? They just walk across it... |
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| Shoo cow! |
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