His next-door neighbors had Brucellosis problems, and since Jerry shared a common fence, his herd was required to be tested. The neighbors sold out and let the land set the requisite time. Meanwhile, Jerry brought to his property 20 half-Gertrudis heifers. He evaluated them and concluded 2 out of 3 had no brain.
The government showed up to test them. They insisted on using their clanging, banging government-issue head catch instead of what the cattle were used to. Thus, a riot ensued in which all 20 crashed through four fences and three farms and crossed the Flint River. Two of the half-breeds were never found!
Six months went by. The neighbor restocked with Red Angus cows and a bull. Jerry continued to cruise the county in his spare time searching for his prodigal heifers and, sure enough, one afternoon he saw one amidst the neighboring Red Angus. She must have found her way back and blended right in. Jerry called his neighbors, two older brothers who ran a tight ship and were proud of their operation. He explained about locating his heifer and asked if he could saddle up and cut her out.
“Nope,” said the brothers, “No, horses. Don’t want no horses stirrin’ up our cattle.”
“How ‘bout a tranquilizer dart gun?” asked Jerry.
“Okay, but don’t you be trompin’ around our pasture chasin’ dem cattle. You can shoot from a fence and we’ll carry her over in a bucket loader.”
Jerry went to his local veterinarian, who outfitted him with a tranquilizer gun. He loaded the dart and gave Jerry the .22-caliber blank cartridge, and verbal instructions. The blank pushes the dart out of the barrel, and a plunger injects the tranquilizer upon impact.
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