Woolly Aliens

Delivery of two young, angus steers

Woolly Aliens

I looked up to see a little twist on what it means to be a chauffeur.  Instead of a long black limousine, Randy was driving his long truck & trailer, filled with two young, black angus steers toward me.  I had never thought of Randy as a chauffeur before, but I smiled as he rolled up and said hello.  Since he was delivering the beasts to my place, I slid into the passenger seat of his truck and we continued driving until we reached a pasture gate.

I jumped out of the truck, opened the gate and Randy drove through.  We almost repeated the entire process at the next gate, but there was a slight variation.  I opened the gate, Randy backed his truck & trailer to the opening, we opened the trailer and we both waited.

Our wait time was brief as the two steers cautiously extended their noses to take an examination sniff, then extended their necks forward and let their front legs down to meet the soft damp ground.  The rest of their hulking bodies followed and each steer’s legs propelled them forward toward another gate.

This final gate welcomed them with lush green grass as well as new, larger and inquisitive bovine friends.  It was a post card scene, so Randy Salt and I leaned on the rail fence, soaked in the sun, admired the snowcapped mountains as a prodigious contrast to the bright blue sky and watched the small herd of black angus cows get to know each other.  Because they were kin, it took little time for them to become comfortable with each other.  As is their ritual, the herd began a tour of their new home for the new arrivals as we watched.

As you know, a tour includes stops.  This tour was not the exception.  There was the refreshment stop, to show the new members of the family where they could quench their thirst and the “meet the neighbors” stop.  It was the “meet the neighbors” stop where all comfort in the pasture suddenly changed.  These were neighbors of a different kind!

A different kind, in this case, is sheep.  The new steers came from a strictly cattle ranch.  They had never encountered smaller, wool covered creatures in their youth.  So, their behavior was a perfect model of, inquisitive, yet apprehensive questioning.  They stood back:

Snorted.

Demonstrated their strength.

Stared. 

Then they inched forward. 

Then back. 

Forward again.

Acceptance!

The steers completed their apprehension process in a very few minutes.  When they were finished, the woolly aliens across the fence had transformed into neighbors!

Randy and I looked up to see a little twist on what it takes to turn someone new and different into a neighbor.  Instead of brooding aggression and worry, steers and sheep simply take a little time to learn about each other and when they do, they discover they have a lot in common and live comfortably and happily as neighbors.

Randy and I, neighbors ourselves, drove his long truck & trailer, no longer filled with two young, black angus steers toward the pasture gate.  I had never thought of Randy as an alien before, but it caused me to smile, just a little, as we rolled along.  I wondered what my impression of him would have been if he had come to visit me dressed as a sheep.

“No matter!” I said to myself.

I’ve taken the time to get to know Randy a little bit so, we’ve become friends and neighbors!