This morning I woke up to the sound of alpaca alarm calls! Tinker raced along the fence line head up and making that high pitched noise. Then Buddy joined him with his deep warning bark. What the heck! I ran out the back door to see what was going on. The neighbors field was full of big black angus cattle! Yikes!

You have to understand, I really really don't like cows! My daughter makes fun of me. She says I'm afraid of cows. Well, maybe I am a little. They are huge and dumb and unpredictable. My grandfather made all us kids stay in the hay loft one time when a neighbor's bull got loose, so maybe I am afraid. Cows can carry a disease called BVD. It causes them to lose their calves and other hideous stuff. Anyway it can be passed to alpacas so I really don't want cows on our property.

I thought about calling the neighbors and letting them know the beasts were there, eating their trees and trampling the plants. I figured they'd be more pissed off at me for calling them at 6:30 than at the cows. They were up soon anyway. I heard someone banging on a bucket or something and looked out again. The man was beating on a piece of metal and a whole herd of cows was headed right for my fence! Oh My Gosh! All I could do was watch and hope for the best! As soon as the herd saw the fence and the barn blocked their way, they turned and headed for the neighbors gate where they had come in. Thank the good Lord! There were about 6 or 8 big cows and a couple little calves running with them. They went out the neighbor's gate and over the hill. Just the same, I closed my gate when Steve left for work. I don't want to have to chase any of those beasts off my property!