Where do you feel most safe? For me and most people that would be their home. Another place that I feel totally comfortable and safe is at the farm. It is my second home and has been since before I was born. The milk barn is only second to my house when it comes to where I spend the majority of my time. I've actually taken naps in there on the chair more than once in my time and my Dad has a habit of doing it too.
Growing up on our farm taught me about how to act around cattle. We have our dairy cows and we have our stock cows. These two groups of cows have very different personalities. My dairy cows are laid back for the most part. A few have attitude, but they wouldn't hurt a fly. Stock cows are a bit trickier. They aren't around people every single day so they are more mistrusting of humans. Either way these are all animals that literally weigh a ton and you should never turn your back on them or get too comfortable around them. You always have to be aware of their presence and your own.
I'll be the first to admit that I probably get more comfortable around our cows than I should, but yesterday I had a painful reminder of just how damaging they can be. We have six separate pens of cows/bulls that we feed grain to everyday. One of these pens is full of heifers and a couple bulls. One of the bulls is an Ayrshire and we have named him Nuts because of his personality. He's a special kind of weird and an animal that you never trust. Dad opened the gate and I drove the truck through and that's when it happened. Nuts went after Dad. I screamed, jumped out of the truck leaving the truck in Drive, jumped back in to put it in Park, and then distracted Nuts. By this time Nuts had picked Dad up with his head and rolled him around on the ground a couple times. Thankfully Dad is okay. Nothing is broken, he's just really sore and bruised. This wasn't a physically painful reminder for me, it was an emotionally painful reminder. It was physical for my Dad obviously, who is an extremely tough man.
I have never killed an animal. Never have had the urge to go hunting. I wasn't raised in a house where people go hunting. I have nothing against hunting and my husband enjoys hunting multiple times every year. We currently have a giant bag of deer jerky sitting on our kitchen counter from his last hunting trip in December. I've always thought that I spend my entire life trying to keep animals alive so I don't want to go kill one. Also I'm the girl that would cry when someone shot Bambi, so not exactly the best hunting partner. Yesterday when I watched Nuts hurt my Dad that was the first time in my life that I could have shot an animal. Watching someone you love get hurt and you can't do anything to stop it is the worst feeling in the world. Nuts is going to the sale barn as soon as possible because it's never smart to keep an animal like that around. He will make some very fine hamburger for someone. And Nuts is incredible lucky that I don't know how to work any of my husband's guns because otherwise he would have been taken care of by now.
Thankfully what happened is not an everyday occurrence on our farm, but it did remind me that my job is dangerous. I am dealing with 2,000 pound animals on a daily basis and if I don't keep a close eye I could get hurt. So why do I do it? Well I love it. Everything in life is dangerous in one way or another. And everyday there are millions of farmers and ranchers, like my Dad, who face the risks so we have food on our tables. My Dad is my role model and my inspiration because of everything he does. The man never stops working or taking care of his animals, even when one has hurt him. To have that much love for the work that you do is amazing and that is why I do what I do.
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