10 deg in NJ

[Wegian]

Wow, poor Robert must be suffering something fierce!


....you'd better go and throw another blanket on him...

[JerryCarr]

Dave M, my 84 year old mother had snow on Christmas Day in Stephenville, Texas. Although they get snow just about every year out there, this was the first white Christmas since she was about five. When I was there for Thanksgiving, I got to drive to the DFW airport through a blinding snowstorm which fortunately did not stick to the road. I was glad to get back to balmy Puna.

Having grown up on a ranch with 1600 cattle, I have a lot of experience with cows. They can be pretty dumb, but the main reason they don't break the ice on the water troughs is the way their front legs are built. If the trough is more that about 18 inches high, they can't paw at it like a horse which has differently structured joints on the front legs. Cows are more adept at kicking with their hind legs, which are quite good at dealing with pesky humans, but not much use for breaking ice. We had quite a few cows that were only safely approachable from the side. They can hook you with the front end and kick with the back. (Speaking of getting hooked, the 'Horns really let me down yesterday. Too bad about Colt.) I have seen cattle break the ice on shallow water in tanks (West Texan for ponds) and take a drink. Ours were clever about one thing, though. We had one barren 2200 acre pasture that could support about 200 cows. The only water source was almost two miles from the grassiest area, so the cows would leave all the young calves with two or three of the oldest brood cows and go drink the water. When they finished they would go back and nurse the calves while the babysitter cows went and got a drink. Otherwise they are pretty stupid and make good dinner plate material.

Cheers,
Jerry

[Dave M]

"They can be pretty dumb, but the main reason they don't break the ice on the water troughs is the way their front legs are built. If the trough is more that about 18 inches high, they can't paw at it like a horse which has differently structured joints on the front legs. Cows are more adept at kicking with their hind legs, which are quite good at dealing with pesky humans, but not much use for breaking ice."

Thanks Jerry, that does make perfect sense.. and I have been the recipient of a "cow kick" and had always heard the term "cow kick" even attributed to horses. But a young steer brought the term to light for me a few months back. Yeah big bruse.. that didn't go away for a couple of weeks. Certainly changed the way I approached them. Hell I couldn't help but think how bad it could be had he been full grown, [:0][B)].

But that, them not being able to reach above 18", totally makes sense given the way there legs move when they walk. I think the funniest experence was when a young bull wouldn't get out of my way while trying to get through a gate. He was doing the whole challenge the truck thing.. So I look around the truck for something to threaten him with. All i can find is an empty sonic bag (sonic is a hamburger stand for those who don't know) So I'm shaking this sonic bag, out the window, at him trying to get him to move. well one of the neighbors saw me from a far.. next the you know it's all over town.. I'm still hearing about it. And yeah I know just keep slowly pulling forwad and tap the horn and they'll move.. eventually.

Yeah that game turned out to be closer than we could have imagined, without Colt. I really felt for that young freshman, that replaced him, but I don't think he has anything to be ashamed of this morning. Stay safe, dave

Blessings,
dave

"It doesn't mean that much to me.. to mean that much to you." Neil Young

[oink]

My papayas got froze. I will have to plant anew. There has been heavy frost on the windshield three days in a row, but not last night, but probably again tomorrow night. Even a slight chance of snow.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.

[Dave M]

quote:

---

Originally posted by oink

My papayas got froze. I will have to plant anew. There has been heavy frost on the windshield three days in a row, but not last night, but probably again tomorrow night. Even a slight chance of snow.

---

Yeah I've been freezen my papayas off as well. Oh wait you're talking about fruit.. oops my bad. [:p] I heard they were calling for possible snow for yall as well. They also said that many of the growers were going to try to harvest today in an attempt to, I guess, mitigate their losses. You know this is going to stir up the whole global warming thing, on both sides.

Blessings,
dave

"It doesn't mean that much to me.. to mean that much to you." Neil Young

[oink]

Predicted low of 31 tomorrow with 40% chance of percipitation, so snow is possible. Not likely though and the few times it has snowed in the past it melts as soon as it lands. A little might stick to a car for a bit. I have my non-purple purple Hawaiian sweet patoto patch covered.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.