Tiny the marathon calf... Submitted by Dave
Clementine and Lily are the youngest of our heifers. Both were born this summer, Clementine to Nectarine and Lily to Muguet. Their moms are the matriarchs of the herd with Muguet being the top cow and Nectarine her number two. Lily is the sweetest calf imaginable, following anyone like a dog, eager to have her ears scratched.
Tiny is a wild thing.
She’s three months old and I’ve yet to put a hand on her. It’s not that she’s scared of me… not at all. She just enjoys being a pip. She revels in standing about 10 feet away from me, face full on, ears swiveled forward to listen, head slightly down, feet planted and tail raised slightly. From this stance she watches and should I reach out a hand or move toward her, she takes off like a shot, tail in the air and hind legs kicking at the air.
On a late September day, I was filling the waterer and all of us, cows and farmer, enjoyed the warmth of the early fall sun. As is the case when I show up in the field, the girls were hanging around, drinking and jostling for position. At this point, most calves would be somewhere near Mom trying to avoid being squished by the other Moms. But not Tiny, she was standing a few feet away in her usual, “I’m watching you” stance when she took off. She ran down the hill at full gallop – she’s fast—leaned around the corner at the bottom of the hill, followed the fence line and sprinted up the hill on the far side. Still on stride she crested the hill and turned toward the waterer, but instead of stopping she kept right on going for another circuit. At the completion of her second loop, she skidded to a stop, assumed the position and panted, tongue hanging out as if to say “pretty good, huh old man? Think you could catch me?” Amused, I watched her pant, not a common site with cows. Cows tend not to go in for strenuous exercise; they’re a more contemplative lot, more likely to be found in a library than fitness center. But before her breathing had calmed, Tiny took off again, tail flying for another couple of circuits… another skid to a stop, another brief rest… tongue hanging out and more heavy panting with chest heaving.
The waterer now filled I had to move on to another activity. Tiny was still running as I left the field. I don’t know how much longer she ran, but thinking about our marathon calf made me smile. I look forward to knowing Tiny as a full-grown milking cow. There are few things funnier than a milking cow galloping around the field with udder swinging. I suspect, however, that Tiny’s conviction and commitment to her running will elicit some admiration as well as laughter.
Of course this all depends on whether I can catch her to milk her.
