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| Ready to go... |
Once upon a time we had a very wild steer. Roughly two years ago, our herd of cattle was spooked, possibly by a wild animal. Whenever we came near to fed them, they ran away like they were terrified. Gradually, they calmed down - except two in particular. They decided to leave our property and roam the countryside, refusing to cooperate with any of our attempts to catch them. Last fall, one of our neighbors was able to catch them in his fence, and then brought the steers to our place, where we penned them up in a corral pen. One shortly thereafter employed his wonderful jumping skills again, and was off to roam in freedom. The remaining steer went straight to the locker and was enjoyed by all at dinner.
The remaining wild steer seemed to never tire of gallivanting around several counties. Finally, another neighbor miraculously caught him in a small pen, but while he was on the phone telling us where he lived so we could come get the steer, he watched as the steer ably cleared his pens and took off once again.
Months passed, and we wondered if we would ever be able to catch this incredibly wild cow. Seemingly every farmer around had sighted and called us - none had success with capturing him.
This winter, he adopted our adjoining neighbor's herd of cattle as his companions. So after several phone calls, we were able to get the vet, our neighbor, and our boys all together at the same time, at the field where the unsuspecting steer was hanging out. His long-enjoyed freedom was finally drawing to a close. This was one tough steer, but he was no match for two doses of tranquilizer. Finally we were able to load him in the trailer! After he spent a long and very noisy (read: jumping and kicking) night in the trailer, we took him to the sale barn the next morning.
This was a blessed ending to our two-year adventure with a steer that was widely known as the "Bryant's wild steer."
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| After freely grazing for two years, this steer was huge |
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| Captured at last! |
