Towing Horses...

We have about 4 acres of creek-bed that we let our neighbor use for grazing his horses.

For about the last two weeks we've had a rogue cow...this girl is REALLY wild...hanging out in the same area of the creek as the horses. No one knows who this cow belongs to. EVERYTHING spooks this cow....including horses. Apparently at some point last night the cow managed to knock down the fence that was keeping the horses down in the creek. So, this morning about 0500, I saw this when I put the dogs out:

https://i.imgur.com/fIRF6LN.jpg


Apparently the wild cow caused quite a ruckus last night. The sheriff's dept was out trying to figure out who owns the cow because she had wandered out on the county road. Problem is this cow runs wildly and frantically from any and everything that even looks like it's approaching her.

Anyway, I knocked on the neighbor's door bright and early at 0545 to let him know his horses were out. I know absolutely nothing about horses other than money goes in one end and poop goes out the other. He came up to fetch the horses. Unfortunately the cow was on our dirt road/driveway and she bolted right back to our property and down into the creek area when he drove up. She damn near ran right over me. So, Plan A - put the horses back down in the creek bed, was out the window. Plan B - "tow" the horses home.

I've never seen horses hitched up to a truck before but this old farmer knew exactly what he was doing. He hitched up all 5 of them to the back of his truck and towed them home. They'd apparently been thru it before, too, because they knew exactly what to do, too. Lots of excitement for a Sat morning around here.

https://i.imgur.com/0x2qqTi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OhKhErU.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VHVG1Fs.jpg

Sounds like your beef needs are about to get fixed for a while.

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Originally Posted by CavSct1983

Sounds like your beef needs are about to get fixed for a while.

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This. Not a bad neighborhood problem to have.

If she's that skittish is it possible she's been on her own for awhile?

Sounds like a wild bovine? They have them in Hawaii too except they have a hunting season for them there. There is no season and no limit in ID. Happy hunting

Maybe keep her in the pasture fatten her up with some good feed for a while. You know to give the rightful owner time to come claim her. You enough time to clean up the freezer and bbq.

The right thing to do is to contact your local Brand Inspector... https://www.idaho.gov/agencies/brand-inspector/

Believe it or not, the laws related to livestock in most Western states that it's your responsibility to keep your fence in order to keep them OUT, not the owner's responsibility to keep them IN. I didn't check ID law, but that's the way it is in Colorado, and Texas.

I've owned horses for >15 years, and now have AG exemption for cattle on my property in TX, albeit a measly 5 head of cattle... so I know a bit about what I'm talking about... them's the rules out in the country.

ETA: We were just texted the other day by our neighbor because he saw one of his calves get over on our side of the fence... we checked, and it was back with it's mama- so here, we all know our neighbors- and there's none of that HOA boo sheet, just people looking out for each other. That's one of the reasons we love it here.

I'm familiar with open range laws. It doesn't bother me the cow is on the property. Two different ranchers have property that borders mine and there are plenty of cows running around. I'm pretty sure the brand inspector has been called because I've seen him out on the road twice in the last week. The problem is finding this girl in the brush down in the creek. At the slightest sound she bolts...you can hear her charging thru the brush and creek at all hours. But she's really hard to spot.

Urban blight.

It doesn't take long for lost cattle to turn wild. Years ago when Caribou Ranch ranged cattle on the forest, I came upon a huge bull two miles up the mountain in mid January. That fellow was right testy and wouldn't tolerate a close approach to lead him out. He would have to be driven with stock horses and corralled. I was tempted to take him out in pieces via snowmobile and trailer but thought better of it. I called the ranch manager and offered to take them to bull but they didn't seem interested in retrieving him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BPTactical

Urban blight.

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No kidding!

HOA would fix that right up.

[Coffee]

Sounds like you have a Maverick on your hands. You just need to make up a brand
now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UncleDave

Sounds like you have a Maverick on your hands. You just need to make up a brand
now.

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Got it.
Attachment 75727Alternate:Attachment 75728

Haha, perfect.

Uh, oh. An outbreak of mad cow in Idaho.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CavSct1983

Got it.
Attachment 75727Alternate:Attachment 75728

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OK...I'll grudgingly admit that's somewhat amusing.

I've seen some 'domestic' cattle that were pretty wild... all it would take to make one really messed up in the head is one attack by a predator.

I was bow hunting in michigan and walking to my stand in the dark only to hear a freight train go through the woods scaring the crap out of me.. wasnt until daylight and not seeing any deer did i find all the destruction and evidence of a cow... thing was wild in the area for over a year.. then suddenly it wasn't... someone got lucky during gun season Haha.

Last year we thought we were onto a bear strolling through the woods. As we got closer it got weirder and weirder as the animal was definitely huge, and definitely didn't give a F*** about anything else. I kept seeing glimpses of huge, black through the trees. Then it struck me and I was like, "Oh, of course it's a cow at 9,500 ft." Stupid cow. It was actually about 10 of them. My buddy spooked one and they all stormed out of there. That hunt was pretty much over.