Pat & Sharon O'Toole

Steer calves in front of the horse barn
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

These days are a blur of sorting, shipping and looking for strays--both calves and lambs. Sometimes the strays show up after we have shipped, but we are still glad to see them. In the meantime, we sort out the neighbors' strays and send them home. In our country, most ranches have summer forest permits,with translucent boundaries, which leads to some mixing (see "Scottish Highlanders, Fall Gather"). Lots of folks trail their livestock, which leads to further dropping or picking up of strays. Usually we are glad to see the neighbors that we haven't had time to visit with all summer. We have conversations with the neighbors whom we might not be so glad to see, but it reminds us that we live in the same world.

Both Wyoming and Colorado have brand inspection laws, so the brand inspector is part of our shipping days. We just shipped a load of "killer" cows, but it was more than just putting old or crippled cows on the truck. One pinto cow had been given to my son by my beloved, and late cousin Mike Sheehan. Another was descended from Meghan's first cow, whom she had taken as a 4-H "Heifer Project" many years ago. A heifer is donated to a 4-H or FFA member, who then raises her and exhibits her for two years. The second year, the young cow is expected to have borne a calf, which is also exhibited. To this end, the heifers are pregnancy tested at their first county fair. The vet discovered that Meghan's heifer was open and in heat, so one of the Fair Board members (you know who you are!) stuck a young show bull belonging to another FFA member in with Meghan's heifer. An uproar ensued when the young owner found his bull with the heifer. He had planned to sell it as a virgin bull. My Dad offered to buy the bull on the grounds that he had proven libido, but the young man's grandmother outbid him.

Calf prices are down this year, largely due to nervousness about the corn market. We sold our calves at the Steamboat Springs Superior Livestock Auction last July. We swallowed hard, and many sellers "no-saled" their calves. The market has dropped, so we did the right thing. Ah, hindsight!

Just before we loaded the calves, on November 6th and 7th, we got our first big snow--about eight inches. The first day found us up to our boot tops in slushy mud. The next day we were sliding around on frozen slushy mud. We had an efficient crew and the calves loaded in good order.

Heifer calves, ready to load
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

George confers with the truckers
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

R. C. Buckley, Superior rep and Pat, muddy corrals
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

Ned McKee, brand inspector
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

Seamus, Maeve, Meghan & Siobhan--hard at work
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

Calf gone (recycled Gov Dave campaign sign in background)
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole