I haven't been blogging much these days because I feel that our long..long Canadian winter just froze my enthusiasm to write or think!
Now that the sun is shining and all the snow has melted I decided that it was time to get out there and prune the fruit trees. My calves and alpacas have been kept in the field by the house over the winter. I like them close so that I can keep my eye on them. Yesterday I was busy pruning the apple trees but the calves are ever curious and always had their noses in the way. I decided that perhaps it would be better to feed them their daily grain/mineral mix to keep them busy while I finished the job.
Unfortunately one branch of the apple tree was twisted and held tightly against the main trunk so I was bending down and struggling with the pruning shears. From the corner of my left eye I caught a flash of a 400 lb,one and a half year old Jersey calf, named Nimai. He had quietly come up behind me and was doing his little dance. (The calves even though they are fixed are forever riding each other). Apparently Nimai thought that it was a good idea to try and ride the boss lady....namely me. I spun around to face him head on and shouted,"BACK!!!! BACK!!!!"
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| Twins Radhe and Gopal ....just behind is Nimai. This was last fall so they are bigger today. Actually they have out grown their collars. |
Nimai has been trained to listen to commands. He stopped in his tracks. I then removed my rubber work gloves and moved towards him while brandishing them about...all the while using my angry mommy voice,"BACK...BACK...YA' SILLY THING!!!"
Nimai backed up . My shouting brought my other 450 lb calf, Gopal to see what all the ruckus was about. He stood for just a second or two with hay hanging from his mouth..just watching. Then he charged! He came and stood in front of me...facing Nimai....head down and rammed him! He pushed him back and the fight was on! This was not their usual friendly shove and push game. This was an all out battle! My usual gentle,placid Gopal was furious! Gopal rammed Nimai from the front...side...back...over and over. I was scared for two reasons... number one being... Gopal would actually injure him and second that they would trample me. I jumped back over the electric fence..hoping that me being out of the picture would calm Gopal. I even went into the house but he went on chasing Nimai around the pasture for a good hour.
I've had a special relationship with the twins Radhe and Gopal ever since they were born out on the freezing pasture almost a year and a half ago. We had saved their pregnant mother from a dairy business so poor girl was totally worn out. Her teats hung down to the ground so I gave her the name Urvashi. I had read in my favorite book Mahabharat that Urvashi was a heavenly apsara with beautiful breasts the size of water pots. The name seemed appropriate.
When they were born Urvashi did not seem to know what to do with them. In the dairy business the calves are taken away from their mother immediately after birth. She just plopped them out and walked away. I picked up seventy pound Gopal while Gaura Nitai picked Radhe up and we carried them to the barn. We then brought their mother in.
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| Radhe is wearing my cashmere sweater and Gopal is wearing Gaura Nitai sweater and wool pants. The barn was so cold!! |
She was a wonderful loving mother but died within two weeks. I promised her that I would always take care of her babies so she could go if she had to. I bottle fed the twins and tried to introduce them to drinking from a bucket. In the end neither of them learnt to drink from a bucket by themselves. They would only drink their milk if I had my fingers submerged into the bucket. Needless to say I have a very close relationship with the twins.
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| Bottle feeding Gopal. |
I was and am awestruck by my calf coming to defend me. I never thought that it was possible on my farm. I once read a story about Bouri a wonderful family cow in India who had protected her family against thieves. Had I imaged that it would happen to me?
Never in my wildest dreams. I feel both honored and humbled.
Until next time.
Hare Krsna
Lal
