I was quite comfortable. Warm from my bath, bed soft with fresh sheets, a good book to read, and we had a new president. Life is good. I was just ready to start reading when the sound seemed to come from right outside my window.
MOOOOOOOOOO. Ok, I have been around enough cows to recognise a semi- distress call but ignored it and dug deeper into my book. MOOOOOOOO it came again with a little squeak at the end.
Hum I thought, it could be one of three things. Either her calf is sick, been taken from her or there is a predator out there alarming her.
She was part of my neighbor's small herd of about 30 cows. His pasture butts right up to my fence in my backyard, not 100 feet from my bedroom. Sometimes the sound moved and seemed to get closer. I was afraid she might have torn down my fence and was in my yard.
Recently a friend of a dear friend of mine had been killed trying to shoo a neighbor's bull from her yard. She had been my age. That thought kept me from getting dressed and dashing outside as a younger me might have. She kept up the regular, incessant mooing as I tried to read.
Then a cow on the other side of the highway decided to join in. I now had mooing in stereo. These were not gentle moos folks but bellows.
I got brave enough to grab a flashlight to stand in the doorway to see what was there. Another neighbor had told me the day before that he was hearing coyotes at night. I thought that might be the problem. I heard nothing but the cow and in fact, couldn't even see her with the strong flashlight and no flashing eyes of a predator.
Ok Patti, you can't solve this so go to bed. I'd like to say it ended eventually and I got a good night's sleep but she kept it up ALL night, still going strong at 2 AM. What a set of lungs on her.
In the morning, bleary from lack of sleep, I looked but the herd was out of sight and nowhere near my property. There was no dead calf nor did I find coyote tracks. Ok I had no idea what they would look like but there were no tracks of any kind.
Talked with a neighbor and she said she was sure that the cows had been separated from their calves which explained the all night serenade. But why was only one mother upset. Mystery.
Next night I am again snuggled in bed when I heard it. MOOOOOOOO. Oh crap, not again!!! I waited on tender hooks for the next Moo but it thankfully never came. She just had one Moo left in her she had to get out.
Ah, country life. Aren't you glad now if you live in the city?
I'd rather hear a "moo" than the sirens we have in the city!
ReplyDeleteAnni,
DeleteWell that can't be any fun either with them announcing someone is in trouble.
Sure sounds like a mother whose calf has been removed for weaning or marketing. How terrible that your friend's friend had been killed by a bull. You were wise to stay put.
ReplyDeleteFlorence,
DeleteThat was so bizzare and shook us all to the core. It made a believer out of me.
Country life indeed -- good to have fodder for a blog post.😉
ReplyDeleteOlga,
DeleteHa ha, these days I'll take the fodder where ever it comes from.
Either a cow was separated from her calf or she was in heat, with no bull available. The keep up a steady stream of "Moos" when they are in heat (unless there is a willing bull around). which happens once every three weeks and lasts for about 18 hours. I've milked Jersey cows for at least half my life, so I've lived with them, you might say.
ReplyDeleteDonna,
DeleteHum, I didn't know that and it may have explained the mooing from across the road. Might have been a bull trying to ease her pain. Thanks for stopping by with that interesting info.
Oh, dear. I would have worried all night.
ReplyDeleteMarty,
DeleteThat was what kept me up. Not the noise so much but the worry.
That would be the equivalent of someones car alarm around these parts. I think I'll take the mooo...
ReplyDeleteBut distress moo's would upset me. So one upsets me and one annoys me. I'd be in a pickle.
Margaret,
DeleteThink you would have been like me and would have worried what was destressing her so much.
That would drive me crazy, both from curiosity, and because of the sound of distress. Glad it stopped, finally. But it made for a good story.
ReplyDeleteDjan,
DeleteI really was worried that she might have a downed calf or there might be a predator out there. Felt helpless.
We may not have Moooooos but we have our own weird noises. I'll have to post about that one of these days.
ReplyDeleteLatane,
DeleteI am looking forward to that post.
Darn it, I feel a little guilty (after reading about that poor woman & a bull) but the moos coming in stereo gave me a real chuckle! Patti to be honest I DO feel fortunate living in the city but only because I live alone and everything is so convenient. This made me a little homesick for my own rural roots. I hope you got caught up on your sleep!
ReplyDeleteDoug,
DeleteActually country night noises are usually much preferable to city clatter. This was just a rare event.
From what Marty said, that stereo moo could have come from a bull responding to this cow's mating call. Whee.
It would have upset me. I love cows.
ReplyDeleteJean,
DeleteI so agree. I love my neighbor's herd. All the pleasure and none of the work and so far only one night's lost sleep.
This is so funny. I don't live in the country, but I guess that if I did, I would hear a cow moo. But, there are no coyotes here in Hawaii.
ReplyDeletegigi,
DeleteBe glad there are no coyotes in Hawaii but if there were, you probably wouldn't have all those feral chickens.
Oh you remind me of the one time I heard the sorrowful moos of a mama cow whose calf had been taken from her. It went on and on with such a heart-tugging cry. I'm glad she stopped there, Patti, and that she made peace with her loss.
ReplyDeleterobin,
DeleteIt is so hard to hear knowing you can't do a thing to help. What was worse was when he once penned up a colt he was weaning. Both of them cried all night.
I guess the lesson is: don't separate a mother from her child!
ReplyDeleteTom,
DeleteRight you are if you want to sleep.
Glad the cow was quiet the second night. I have never stayed awake due to cows but roosters sure have gotten the better of me.
ReplyDeleteSue,
DeleteOuch. At least the cow was unhappy so I could have some empathy. Roosters are just boasting and that has to get to you.
I get the moos too, but so much better than partying neighbors in the city.
ReplyDeleteInger,
DeleteWhen you put it that way--I so agree especially since they are so rare.
I would have been worried too... and perhaps might have called the neighbors who owned the herd?(just in case something was seriously wrong) But I have heard mama cats cry for days when their kittens were taken from them... that too is heart-breaking.
ReplyDeleteRian,
DeleteIf it hadn't been so late I would have. Pretty sure it was his doing by separating the calf from the momma.
I miss the sound of country but like Inger said,it is partying neighbors.
ReplyDeleteBarbara,
DeleteEspecially if they hadn't invited me:))
Sorry about your friend. We are not of an age to chase cows anymore. Used have doings with a small dairy herd with a cow who liked to try and squash you in the doorway if you were busy and gave her the opportunity. Small town here in farm country. Haven't gotten any cows but quite a few wandering pigs and an occasional very lost moose.
ReplyDeleteCelia,
DeleteWe were all shocked that she tried to chase the bull away. Sometimes we forget that all animals are not friendly.
What a horrid way to die, being killed by a bull. Poor woman!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was child, I used to crawl into bed with my parents at night - usually after a nightmare. One night I woke them and told them there was a bear outside the window. Yeah, yeah, they said, go to sleep but I was insistent. It wasn't a bear but one of the neighbour's cows rubbing up against the side of the house. Now if it had mooed I would have known what it really was. :)
Take care, stay well!
Eileen,
DeleteWe were all just stunned by what happened to her.
Now that would have been a time when you would have welcomed the moo.
I grew up in the country to coyote calls every night. Now I have skunk smells every night.
ReplyDeleteMage,
DeleteOooh, I'd take a little coyote yipping anytime over skunk smells.
Cows never get hoarse, like barking dogs. I live in a housing development, but hear coyotes, trains, C17s getting ready to land at McChord AFB, and the occasional dog. It's usually very quiet here, although there are definitely noisy moments. No cows though.
ReplyDeleteMargaret,
DeleteThat is funny and I have thought of the same thing many times. Why don't animals get hoarse? Don't envy you the plane traffic.
It has been a long time since I heard cows mooing near my house. City life, country life, both have their issues.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
DeleteActually I like the country sounds, if they don't last all night.
Poor Mooing Mama! No cows here at the edge of wilderness, but we do get fox mamas screaming to kits in the middle of the night just after they leave the den to explore. It sounds like a child screaming right outside our window. Not a gentle way to be awakened!
ReplyDeleteBarb,
DeleteI know I told you about the fox I rescued. They do make the most amazing sounds--not at all what one would expect.
I hate, hate, hate the noise cows make when they lose their calves. It breaks my heart. I think I am going to give up meat.
ReplyDeleteFriko,
DeleteI lived in dairy land when I lived in Florida and I always hated seeing the momma cows after the babies were taken. I vowed to someday just buy them both and let them have a natural life. Sadly never got around to it.
That would have driven me bonkers! 😳
ReplyDeleteSusan,
DeleteThe lack of sleep almost did that is why that last moo almost sent me over the edge.
Oh, Patti, you can't leave us in the lurch like that ! Did you check the neighbor with all the cows, did you question each and every neighbor, etc. etc. Or maybe it was all in your imagination!! Oh, and was your doggie upset too?
ReplyDelete(and yes, on your comment on my blog ... I agree completely and have faith in the new young minds of today !)
Ginnie,
DeleteI did check with my neighbor who knows the rancher well and he said they add separated the calves. Still wonder why only one was upset.
Yes, I do think the young minds will save us.
Oh gosh, Patti! That would have driven me crazy, too. Did anybody talk to the neighbor who owns the cows to let them know? Maybe they should know that their cows need some sort emotional counseling or something.
ReplyDeleteKay,
DeleteHa ha, he was just doing what ranchers do but I might just tell him about the emotional counseling:))
I thought mockingbirds at daybreak outside the bedroom window were an issue, but certainly preferable to a cow mooing all night. Oh, how sad she had to give up her calf. Just think of all the cows that have to go through that process — I’d rather not think about that. We had two loving Guernsey cows when we lived in the country for a couple years. My Uncle had a Holstein dairy herd, was rather cavalier dealing with his bull and was rewarded by getting gored one time. He recovered.
ReplyDeleteJoared,
DeleteYikes, he definitely got the point. I was around a lot of dairy farms in Florida and there were often bull related accidents.
Oh dear, the mystery of the moo!
ReplyDelete