 the other cows were in the barn and then, only if we sent Molley, our herd dog out, would they deign to grace us with their presence. They were bullies, pushing around any cows that got in their way, acting a lot like the bad girls who would go out behind the school during recess and smoke. I suspect that, if they had been able to strike a match, they would have tried even that bad habit. We thought perhaps that as they matured, they would be better behaved, but it never happened. Only when Ger left the herd did Cranberry become more compliant, but even then, there was a bit of sass in her attitude and a kick for the poor dog who had to get her moving in the direction of the barn. She left the herd this past fall, but not before she had graced us with at least one daughter who carried not only her coloring and production, but also a bit of her talent for trouble.
We call her the red elk. She has a beller* that once you hear, you never forget. She was due to calve in late September, and so joined the small herd of springing heifers and close cows in the paddocks behind the barn while the milking herd was put on the meadows for the last grazing of season. Every time one of the cows or heifers freshened, she would stay close to the cow and calf, stick by them like a burr when we tried to bring them to the barn, go into the stall that we wanted the fresh cow in, and then refuse to go back to the pasture without a fight, a run through a fence or two, a quick jog in the direction opposite that we wanted her to go and quick turns with her head down in an intimidating manner, all the while shrieking like a buck elk in rut. She was, unfortunately, the last to calve, so it was a long month and a half. She has spent the winter letting us know when she’s unhappy for any reason (or for no reason) with her trademark sound.
I suppose it would be easier to farm if all cows really were slow-witted creatures of habit, but it would probably get boring after awhile. Nonetheless, I think it might be worth a try.
*beller is a colloquialism and not found in dictionaries, but indicative of a very specific sound made by cows.