by Baxter Black
Gerrall Wayne does his best to
keep his old Toyota quarter-ton irrigator pickup in presentable
condition. But he’s not afraid to put his ol’ truck to the test.
One of his heifers lost her
calf. Gerrall went down to Clifford’s dairy to pick up a baby Holstein
to graft on. He hog-tied the calf and headed out into the pasture to
catch the heifer. Gerrall is usually accompanied on his daily rounds
with a herd of dogs — five blue heelers and two pugs, one of which has
only one eye. They are formidable truck guards when Gerrall needs to
leave the truck unattended in town. And, on rare occasions they (the
heelers) can be useful when handling cattle.
Gerrall’s cows were tame enough
for him to get within a few feet of them. Taking advantage of this, he
slid up to the heifer and threw a rope around her neck. She had a
personality conversion and threw a four-letter fit! Looking for a place
to dally, Gerrall caught a coil on his bumper and snagged her. He
couldn’t drag her closer so, with baby calf in hand he started down the
taut line thinking, somehow that the heifer would stand still? Cowboy
logic, I guess.
The Blue Heelers wanted to
help. The heifer took off around the truck! Gerrall had the graft calf
under one arm and a grip on the rope. He was nearly jerked off his feet
when all five Heelers started heeling! The calf, the heifer and Gerrall
were swept up in the tsunami, as they raced around the truck.
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