Times Advocate, 1994-8-31, Page 12Page 12
Times -Advocate, August 31, 1994
Another view...
By Val Thomson
The udder side of cows (and why they're so contented)
For those of you who have never
had the opportunity to work with
cows, you might be surprised to
discover that they are not always
the quaint, gentle beasts that are
portrayed on everything from wall-
paper to oven mitts. Oh, they can
be nice and gentle, even friendly, if
they choose, but there is another
side to the bovine personality.
Some cows are just plain ornery,
some are mean.
Several years ago we had a cow
that was a real nasty kicker. Usual-
ly they get over it and settle down
once they get used to being milked.
We tried all kinds of things, but she
wouldn't stop kicking. She didn't
just kick to knock the milker off,
she had definite intent to injure. We
finally decided she wasn't worth the
risk and we shipped her to market.
We had another cow that wasn't
too bad to milk but she didn't like
being singled out of the herd to
have anything else done to her. The
first time we discovered this quirk
was when the classifier was at our
place. He and I were in the pen
with this cow when all of a sudden
she lowered her head and charged
right at us! We both scrambled over
the gate just in time. It's a good
thing that temperament isn't includ-
ed in classification.
She was rated 'good' but as luck
would have it, her stay was not
meant to be a long one. She had
poor feet and a poor udder so she
had to go. We thought of attaching
part of a TV aerial to her and send-
ing' her out in a thunderstorm but
decided that the insurance people
wouldn't consider it an accident,
should lightning strike her. So, she
had to go for beef but we didn't
know how we were going to get her
onto the truck. Our problem was
solved when another cow had to he
shipped so we sent the two of them
together without any trouble.
When Cliff scrapes the barn h
the bobcat, he takes down an elec-
tric wire that keeps the heifers in.
Usually they know enough to stay
put, but on this one occasion one of
the heifers took a notion to wander
out of bounds4lnd head up towards
the house. The Seed was overly ir-
ritated by this and came racing after
the heifer emitting some extremely
colourful language. When she re-
fused to co-operate, the Seed decid-
ed he would wrestle her back into
the barn.
"You *#@!," he shouted as he
latched onto her head. (I was
watching the performance from the
kitchen window). The heifer realty
took offence at being manhandled
and took off as if she was at the
Calgary Stampede, the Seed still
clutching onto her head. Then
WHOMP, SPLAT they both hit the
manure pile at full tilt. Well, the
Seed was covered in manure and
the heifer was back in her proper
place so they both won that battle.
1 often wonder how much
thought goes into what a cow does.
Do they play dumb while they real-
ly know what they are doing? For
instance, when a cow stands on
your foot, is it just reflex for them
to shift most of their weight to that
leg, or are they interested in seeing
if a human foot can withstand
1,200 or so pounds on it?
Now, tail switching is definitely
done on purpose. Cows would have
us believe that they are swatting at
flies but they do it all year long,
whether there are flies around or
not. They spend hours practicing
this movement, honing their timing
and accuracy. They can flick their
tail into your eyes, across your face
and knock your hat off all in one
swipe.
I think there are more actions that
are premeditated. If we were able
to listen in on the bovine conversa-
tions just before milking, we might
hear something like this:
"OK girls, listen up!" (This is #5
cow, Rae, who tears around the
barn like a drill sergeant. The rest
of the cows follow her orders be-
cause they know they'll get bunted
in the side later on if they don't).
"It's almost milking time and I want
to give you a last minute briefing
on tonight's plans," says Rae.
"First of all, remember to ignore
the barking dogs at the hack of the
barn. Don't enter the parlour until
you're good and ready. Every so of-
ten, I want one of you to stand half-
way in the door and don't go in un-
til you see the human leave the
parlour to come out and chase
you."
"Let me go in first," offers Mar-
sha, "I feel a loose dump coming
on that will splatter nicely all over
the cement floor and up die walls."
"Ooh, nice touch," agrees Rae,
"and you'll score bonus points if
the humaras clean coveralls on
and you m nage to splatter them
too."
"Want me to pull my famous
'cough -the -milker -off trick?" asks
Rhoda. "Yeah, that would be
great." (Rhoda has this trick mas-
tered and performs it almost every
milking. She waits until you're not
looking, raises her head high and
gives a' mighty heaving cough that
shakes her whole body and gets the
milker swinging wildly until it
plops onto the floor.)
"Pamela, how's that side-to-side
shuffle of yours coming along?"
"Not bad, Rae. I can get the milker
to squawk enough to make the hu-
man come running."
"Good, good. Now. what else?
Oh yes, Nancy, it's your turn to
stand and block the exit door so
that the cows that are done all pile
up at the end of the parlour. There,
/
How small-town Ontario
is coping with social change
GUELPH - To find out how rural
Ontario has been coping with mod-
ern social and economic realities,
University of Guelph anthropology
professor Stanley Barrett revisited
his home town.
The result, Paradise - Class,
Commuters and Ethnicity in Rural
Ontario, reveals a class-conscious
and ethnocentric society. The book
explores a 30 -year span in a mid-
sized southern Ontario town as it
related to class divisions, racism,
newcomers and commuting. The
identity of the town - called "Para-
dise" in the book - is not divulged,
although it's situated within com-
muting distance to Toronto.
The book was an intensive three-
year project, involving long periods
when Barrett actually lived in the.
Town as a participant observer. He
interviewed more than 300 town
natives and newcomers and re-
searched archives from the town
and. the Ontario Agricultural Mu-
seum.
Until the late 1960s, "Paradise"
was almost entirely British. A mas-
sive invasion of city dwellers in the
1970s and '80s brought about a
transformation of the ethnic compo-
sition. Asian Canadians and Afri-
can Canadians arrived in increasing
numbers along with white ethnics.
The chapter "British Subjects and
Aliens" looks at early problems en-
countered by assessment officials
in determining the racial origins of
the town's population. "British sub-
jects and aliens" was a term used
on assessment forms until 1964,
I think that's enough for tonight,
don't you girls? It's almost time.
Everyone to their positions. Re-
member our motto: 'Be aggravat-
ing, not mean' otherwise you'll end
up taking a ride on that big blue
truck never to return. OK here we
go. Have fun!"
A hush falls over the herd as
Marsha enters the parlour first.
Squirt, plop, splash! "Why you dir-
ty old #$*@!," shouts the human.
A ripple of cow chuckles spreads
through the crowd and Rae smirks
contentedly.
I'll bet you thought the look of
content on a cow resulted from the
way HUMANS treated COWS.
.4110
when it was replaced with "nation-
ality."
Interested in comparing the
1950s with the '80s, Barrett "won-
dered how Ontario towns had oper-
ated in the past. Were they one big (Al..
happy family? Were they egalitari-
an?"
He found they were rigid in their
stratification. In the past, it was al-
most as if one was born rich or
poor and expected to remain so.
The rich served on town council
and basically "ran the town." he
says. Today, the rich and poor arc
less visible, and the rich have
stepped hack from serving on coun-
cil, primarily because it no longer
holds the power.
[TY
_ions donate $8,000 to Exeter pool
The Exeter lions Club came through on their promise to help pay for renovations to the
Exeter Public Pool with a cheque for $8,000 presented Monday evening. The presenta-
tion was made on the air at the Lions weekly televised bingo, the proceeds from which
were used for the donation. From left are Lions members Tom Hartai and Jamie Grant,
who presented the big cheque to South Huron Recreation Centre Board chairman Dave
Urlin.
umrner
LUES
Don 't miss this tremendous savings opportunity...
Diriry's huge selection gives you the best in choic
and value plus our vest prices
of the season.
SALE ENDS SAT., SEPTEMBER 3
Fine Furniture,
Flooring and Window Fashions
467 Main St., tx•t•r 235-0173
0