Rural Living Panamanian Style!
🎶Weeelllllll, life on the farm is kinda laid back....🎶...that is as long as random critters don't wander through your property eating everything in sight!
Yes, we live in the "country"! And we love it. Our road in is a bit on the rough side, granted, but....
No noisy neighbors; no cars and fumes; surrounded by nature....and cows. BIG cows! One never knows when a herd of cows will be literally in the middle of the highway being moooooved from one pasture to another. We just stop the truck and sit there as they flow around us. Very Wild, Wild West!
The breed of choice here is a Brahma influenced breed that can handle the sparse grazing and heat. Definitely NOT Alberta beef! The calves are adorable with their big ears and curious eyes! I just love seeing all the new babies. All the local people run a small herd wherever they can find some pasture and strong fences are not a priority! So we have had a few run ins with some random bovines. I wish I had pics of all these, but stuff happens so fast that I never capture it.
So picture the cow in the above picture; we are driving up to the gate to our property and there are 3 of them standing there with the gate in front of them; a gorge to the right and a 4' rock wall to the left. "No problem!", I assured Darren as I climbed out the truck. Country girl here can handle a couple cows! Those damn cows reacted like I was a fire breathing dragon! One very pregnant one took off down the gorge while the other two tried to stare me down. "Shoo, cows. " I gently commanded, and those two jumped out of their skin, cleared the 4' wall with inches to spare and thundered out of sight through my neighbor's horse pasture. I did not know that cows could jump like that; we never saw them again!
My next encounter with the local cow culture came one day when I was leading Ali up to his pasture. Just outside of our gate, 2 cowboys on horses were trying to coerce a stubborn bull to get out of the bushes and follow the rest of the herd down the same gorge I mentioned before. They tried to get a rope on him...nope; tried to chase him out...nope. Just then Ali and I came up the driveway; I grabbed a huge banana leaf and went running (yes, I can run!) up to the bushes screaming bloody, blue murder at the the top of my lungs and thrashing the banana leaf around with Ali in tow. That bull took off liked a scalded cat, ran the cowboys down and clattered down the gorge as fast as he could go. The 2 cowboys were dumbfounded; then started to laugh; high fived me with "Gracias, amiga!" and took off after him. I can just imagine what was going through their heads! Who would have though a fat old Gringa could run and holler like that. Ali and I had a good chuckle over that one!
I mentioned that these cows are quite large; well the bulls are even bigger with heads on them that can knock you into next year.
Ok....so now picture this guy, but solid black...no white at all and just a tad smaller and you will get what we are up against now. This bull is one of the craftiest SOBs I have ever seen. Fences do not stop him. Darren came home on the quad and encountered him just inside of our gate. He took after BB( Black Bastard) on the quad; the bull just looked him. So Darren got a stick and chased on the quad brandishing the stick like a jousting pole! The bull didn't like the look of that so he took to runnin', got down on his knees and wiggled under the barbed wire fence....once again into my neighbor's horse pasture...😂😂 Mission accomplished....we thought.
A few days later I was leading Ali up to his pasture (which has a rock wall and a locked gate) and there, inside the pasture, is BB and six of his harem! I unlocked the gate and, once again with Ali in tow (he rather enjoys the ruckus), ran at them screaming curses and obscenities at their hides and they disappeared over the hill toward the river with Rio in hot pursuit! AhHa, I thought; fence must be down in the river! Locked the gate and made a mental note to ask our workers to check the fence.
The next morning, I went to feed Ali (he has an enclosed area with a stall not far from the house). He is always eager for his food, but this time he was was staring intently at something just outside his pen. I started to walk over and...there he was the BB....munching on one of the ornamental plants! I grabbed a broom and took after the SOB and he started heading straight for the pineapples that are just coming up! "You BB!!" I was screaming, "You eat my pineapples and your are F'ing HAMBURGER!" hmmm...now THERE'S an idea! Meanwhile Darren is sitting in his usual seat and looks up to see the bull tearing down the river with Rio and me in hot pursuit! Glad I could be of amusement!
Tonight, Darren tells me that while I was out this afternoon, BB was literally on the steps that lead from the river to the house. I suppose the next thing he will be dropping by for tea! So far the pineapples have survived. But I am still thinking hamburger....
Yes, we live in the "country"! And we love it. Our road in is a bit on the rough side, granted, but....
No noisy neighbors; no cars and fumes; surrounded by nature....and cows. BIG cows! One never knows when a herd of cows will be literally in the middle of the highway being moooooved from one pasture to another. We just stop the truck and sit there as they flow around us. Very Wild, Wild West!
So picture the cow in the above picture; we are driving up to the gate to our property and there are 3 of them standing there with the gate in front of them; a gorge to the right and a 4' rock wall to the left. "No problem!", I assured Darren as I climbed out the truck. Country girl here can handle a couple cows! Those damn cows reacted like I was a fire breathing dragon! One very pregnant one took off down the gorge while the other two tried to stare me down. "Shoo, cows. " I gently commanded, and those two jumped out of their skin, cleared the 4' wall with inches to spare and thundered out of sight through my neighbor's horse pasture. I did not know that cows could jump like that; we never saw them again!
My next encounter with the local cow culture came one day when I was leading Ali up to his pasture. Just outside of our gate, 2 cowboys on horses were trying to coerce a stubborn bull to get out of the bushes and follow the rest of the herd down the same gorge I mentioned before. They tried to get a rope on him...nope; tried to chase him out...nope. Just then Ali and I came up the driveway; I grabbed a huge banana leaf and went running (yes, I can run!) up to the bushes screaming bloody, blue murder at the the top of my lungs and thrashing the banana leaf around with Ali in tow. That bull took off liked a scalded cat, ran the cowboys down and clattered down the gorge as fast as he could go. The 2 cowboys were dumbfounded; then started to laugh; high fived me with "Gracias, amiga!" and took off after him. I can just imagine what was going through their heads! Who would have though a fat old Gringa could run and holler like that. Ali and I had a good chuckle over that one!
I mentioned that these cows are quite large; well the bulls are even bigger with heads on them that can knock you into next year.
Ok....so now picture this guy, but solid black...no white at all and just a tad smaller and you will get what we are up against now. This bull is one of the craftiest SOBs I have ever seen. Fences do not stop him. Darren came home on the quad and encountered him just inside of our gate. He took after BB( Black Bastard) on the quad; the bull just looked him. So Darren got a stick and chased on the quad brandishing the stick like a jousting pole! The bull didn't like the look of that so he took to runnin', got down on his knees and wiggled under the barbed wire fence....once again into my neighbor's horse pasture...😂😂 Mission accomplished....we thought.A few days later I was leading Ali up to his pasture (which has a rock wall and a locked gate) and there, inside the pasture, is BB and six of his harem! I unlocked the gate and, once again with Ali in tow (he rather enjoys the ruckus), ran at them screaming curses and obscenities at their hides and they disappeared over the hill toward the river with Rio in hot pursuit! AhHa, I thought; fence must be down in the river! Locked the gate and made a mental note to ask our workers to check the fence.
The next morning, I went to feed Ali (he has an enclosed area with a stall not far from the house). He is always eager for his food, but this time he was was staring intently at something just outside his pen. I started to walk over and...there he was the BB....munching on one of the ornamental plants! I grabbed a broom and took after the SOB and he started heading straight for the pineapples that are just coming up! "You BB!!" I was screaming, "You eat my pineapples and your are F'ing HAMBURGER!" hmmm...now THERE'S an idea! Meanwhile Darren is sitting in his usual seat and looks up to see the bull tearing down the river with Rio and me in hot pursuit! Glad I could be of amusement!
Tonight, Darren tells me that while I was out this afternoon, BB was literally on the steps that lead from the river to the house. I suppose the next thing he will be dropping by for tea! So far the pineapples have survived. But I am still thinking hamburger....
You could get a job as a cow wrangler!
ReplyDelete