Alpine pasture

Chapter 44 The First Calf

The following days will be relaxed and comfortable. I will finish my work step by step every day. In fact, it can be done in two to three 10 minutes. I don’t even need to tidy up my room. My mother is here. Well, I leave it all to my mother. I ride Doucao twice a day, and I don’t know whether it’s fishing or sleeping in the afternoon. Anyway, it’s just this once.

I just slept for a nap today and was about to go home to enjoy the dinner prepared by my mother, when I heard a rush of hooves coming, and when I turned around, I saw old Thomas galloping with Jefferson on his shoulders.

When he saw Ju An, he said, "An, a cow is missing. It was the one that was going to give birth last time. It is estimated that she went to a place to give birth to a calf. Nancy and everyone have already packed up and are going to find a cow." .Ju An quickly picked up the fishing rod in his hand and prepared a saddle for the bean grass.After packing up some things, put them on Snowflake's back, greeted Wu Song, and dashed to the residence with old Thomas on horseback.

When Ju An arrived in front of the house, everyone was ready, even brother-in-law and father got on the horse, and threw the reins of Snowflake to her sister and asked her to help pack things down.

Then I heard old Thomas say: "Everyone is divided into four groups, Nancy, you take Ann's father and brother-in-law to help look after the cattle, Andrew and Wynn are in one group, I lead Ann and everyone to go to the woods to find them, Note that everyone bring a lasso, take your guns, and go now, and when you find anyone, use the walkie-talkie, and we will rush over immediately."

Ju An immediately dismounted and ran back into the house, took out his revolver, and holster, and straddled it around his waist.Then he locked the gun cabinet and ran out the door.Seeing that Ju An was ready, Old Thomas waved for everyone to set off, Nancy took her father and brother-in-law to take care of the cattle, and Old Thomas and Ju An set out with three cattle dogs and left them for a while. The fake Hutou, Garantou and another dog followed the four to find the cow.

Ju An rode on the fast-paced bean grass and asked old Thomas, "How did you find out that a cow was missing?".

Old Thomas said: "When we gather the herd every day, we will count it separately to see if the number is right. We specially want to observe those cows that are giving birth quickly. First off the cows that give birth quickly, then the bulls, sometimes the smell of the cows on other pastures will attract the bulls, and some of the bulls will go to other pastures. The cows that give birth will leave the cows alone. The group will go deep into the woods to give birth to calves. If it goes well, there will be no problem. If the labor is difficult, the calves and cows may not survive, so everyone should look for them as soon as possible. The cow is in danger, and by the next day, if you just look at the vultures circling in the woods, there is a good chance that the carcass of the cow will be there.”

Ju An nodded and said, "I see, why are you wearing a noose?"

Thomas said: "It is used to drag the calf with a lasso when it is difficult to give birth. If you are lucky today, if you find a cow, you will be able to see the first calf born on the pasture." stand up.

Ju An nodded, and then followed old Thomas to speed up the horse. After a while, he arrived at the place where Thomas was grazing today. Then Thomas pointed to three directions respectively, and then Wynn and Andrew each ran in one direction. Thomas also ran in the other direction with Ju An.

When he entered the woods, old Thomas rode a distance and said to Ju An: "A cow can walk this far, and then you have to search for a similar depth." After that, he let Hutou lead the way. .

After searching for a while, the sky slowly turned dark, and the forest was full of tall trees, so it darkened faster. After searching for a long time, the tiger's head didn't smell the smell of the cow, and Thomas was also a little anxious. He kept urging the tiger's head, go!go!go!, and the pace under his feet became faster and faster, and sometimes Ju An couldn't even keep up with the pace of old Thomas.After a while, old Thomas and Ju An turned on their flashlights and continued to search in the woods.

Just when everyone was getting more and more desperate, Wynn's excited voice appeared on the walkie-talkie: "I found it, I found it, good guy, this guy is walking back with the calf, what a beautiful little guy".

Old Thomas grabbed the walkie-talkie: "Are you sure you're our bull?"

Wynn said with a smile, "Dad, I'm sure, we still have our mark on him. You'll know when you come. Go back to the ranch."

Old Thomas put down the walkie-talkie, clenched his fist and muttered, "Thank God".

Then Ju An smiled and said to Thomas, "Then let's go back and see the first calf born on the ranch."

Next, when they were rushing back, old Thomas and Ju An were in a much better mood, urging the horse to trot without the tense atmosphere when they came.

Ju An asked with a smile, "Why is it dangerous for cows to give birth to calves in the woods?".

Old Thomas said: "In the past, the danger was that the cow was difficult to give birth, but now it has added another one, wolves. When the cow is out of the group, it is most likely to be attacked by the wolves. After the afterbirth, the amniotic fluid runs out, and the calf is squeezed out, and then the cow eats the afterbirth, and then licks the calf clean, it is dangerous to encounter a wolf at this time.”

Ju An said: "It doesn't happen every calf is born like this."

Old Thomas chuckled: "This rarely happens. Generally, cows won't be so far away from the herd, and sometimes even if you drive the cows back to count them, there will be more calves. Today's situation is estimated to be one aspect. It was the first time this cow gave birth to a calf, and another aspect is that the cow is insecure."

"That's fine." Ju An nodded and said, "Besides, I haven't seen a wolf pack for so long."

Old Thomas replied: "In the past, wolves were too big a threat to the cattle and sheep in the pasture. The government encouraged them to kill them, and they were almost killed. Now the cattle and sheep in the pasture are safe. Who knows what the shitty bureaucrats say about the biological chain. The problem is that we have reintroduced wolves. Of course, wolves are not very common now, because there is a lot of food in the mountains. You can see them in winter. When there is no food, they will go into the pasture to steal cattle and sheep. There are no more [-] or [-] wolves as big as the [-] or [-] wolves I saw when I was a child. Last year, the largest wolves I saw were only [-] or [-] wolves. I don’t think they are the opponents of these guys.”Said and pointed to the tiger's head that followed the horse.

Ju An said with a smile: "You are very optimistic about these guys, I look tall and mighty, can you still beat wolves?".

Old Thomas said with a smile: "Two dollars bet! If there are wolves who dare to come this winter, I bet they will leave at least two wolves behind."

Ju An scratched his head and thought for a while: "Okay, two dollars."

Old Thomas said with a smile: "Taylor and Anderson have both asked me if they can buy a few puppies for the dogs on the ranch."

Ju An asked curiously, "Why didn't they ask me?".

Thomas replied: "At that time, they were not familiar with you, and I said, next year our ranch will have at least 2000 more calves, and there will be sheep, chickens and ducks, etc. I don't know these things. How much can a guy give birth at a time, I'm afraid it won't be enough if I don't have myself, I guess they didn't ask you."

Ju An thought to himself that there are many dogs in my buddy's hometown, and I want to bring a few more dogs when I go home next time. I think it's okay, it's troublesome, and then said, "When these guys give birth to puppies, I have already promised Jerry and Emily, everyone has a puppy, as for Anderson and Thornton, let's see what they're talking about."Thomas nodded.

The two chatted and returned to the ranch.

When I walked to the gathered cows, I saw a group of people watching the calf.

When everyone saw Ju An and Thomas coming over, Nancy smiled and said, "That little guy is breastfeeding."

Following the direction of Nancy's finger, Ju An found a black calf, putting its head under the belly of the cow, one on top of the other, enjoying a delicious dinner. After eating milk for a while, He turned his head to look at Ju An and the group, probably because he was curious about how a bunch of two-legged guys looked around him, licked his ox's nose and big eyes, and the calf looked very cute with big ears. .

Ran Ran and Tongtong held Wu Song in their hands and watched happily. Little Jerry and Emily were taken home by Taylor long ago, and the two little guys lost their skin.After watching for a while, Ran Ran took Tongtong's hand and slowly approached the calf. It was estimated that he wanted to touch it, but the calf didn't move. Seeing Ran Ran and Tongtong approaching him, he took a thousand steps and arched his head. Ran Ran's little hand, hurt Ran Ran said happily: "He likes me" very happy.

Old Thomas also smiled and said, "What a sturdy little guy."

Ju An said with a smile, "Let's have a drink tonight to celebrate the birth of the first calf in the pasture."Then a group of people went back to the house. Mom, old sister, and Nancy helped set the tableware. Ju An went upstairs and took down the Maotai upstairs. When old Thomas saw this kind of wine again, he shook it. He shook his head and said, "I can't stand the taste of this wine, so I'd better drink my whiskey."

The father and brother-in-law said with a smile, "You even have this, and you need a lot of money in China."

Ju An said casually: "Now you can buy some of the larger coastal cities in the West Bank in China, but unfortunately you can't buy tofu and tofu rolls here, I love them."

The elder sister smiled and said, "I remember you like beef. In the past, every time I came back from vacation in college, my mother prepared beef tripe or something. She said that the third one likes to eat it, and now she likes tofu rolls."

Ju An smiled, raised the wine glass in his hand and said, "Toast to the first calf in the ranch."Then a group of people should agree: toast to the calf.

(End of this chapter)