Early July Ranch Ramblings - "A Tragic Comedy in Two Parts" (Part Two)

PART TWO - Ash and the Technologically Challenged Track

More and more I have come to appreciate the time spent in training "The Crew" - from stockdog work to tracking practice. Over the past week, the natural talents and skills of my loyal crew members continue to be put "to the test".


Miss Ash was "on her game", last Tuesday, when called upon to track down my cell phone that was lost on my neighbour's ranch for two days.


LESSON ONE to be learned: Do not put your only phone in a  jacket with shallow pockets when checking on neighbour's herd while your truck is stuck in a bog and you have to walk back through waist-high grass, roll under a cattle chute and forget where you had walked!  Keeping one's sense of humour and utilizing the work ethic of a canine companion will strengthen your belief in a positive outcome! Well, at least that's what Ash told me:-) And, "for the love of the land, she was right.

For fun, I went back to the proximate track to take some pics of the scene of the crime. Ash had picked up the scent of everywhere I had stopped or walked and found my phone in less than 20 minutes without any visual imprints of my steps. My beautiful "track star" saved me time and money! 

My easy, breezy "Track Star" Ash

Ash says "No worries Boss, glad to help you out."

CLICK HERE for PART ONE of Our Early July Ranch Ramblings

Early July Ranch Ramblings - "A Tragic Comedy in Two Parts" (Part One)

PART ONE - "Courage is not the absence of fear or despair but the ability to conquer them."


The past Canada Day Long Weekend gifted us with beautiful weather for tending to various ranch chores. My neighbour and his granddaughter graciously dropped by to help me install another electric fence and patch up some more fencing so I could move the Lulu B. Bovines and bulls to mow down my pasture on the east side of the entrance. After, Rook and Ash helped "moo've" the herd to their new grazing zone, I potted a few plants to splash up the homestead with a bit of flora.

Next up "on our planet of chores" was to cut the grass in the yard where the deck is an "off-limit- to-beef zone." The Canaan Crew was particularly delighted to view the aftermath of their freshly cut yard . They decided it was a good hang-out to relax and groom themselves after getting down and dirty "moov"ing the herd through some sloughs.


In the evening, the cries of the coyotes were almost too over-powering, so I let the crew out for the entire night to keep the predators at bay. In the morning I noticed that the crew was frantically racing between two zones - the one closest to the home where the herd takes refuge from the sun and the furthest grazing zone at the end of the quarter. As I ventured out to check the fencing and do the routine head count of the herd I started to get annoyed at the dogs since they were preventing the herd from going into this one shaded area. As I rode out on my quad I noticed a Lulu had drowned in a new bog in the zone that that the dogs were feverishly protecting. My first loss on the ranch. I should have listened more closely to the crew who had worked all night to alert and keep off the coyotes from the carcass. 


 CLICK HERE for PART TWO - "How Ash Saved Me from spending more money on getting a new cell phone!"


Below are a few snapshots from the past weekend of my Crew and my friend Denise's Crew whom we visited after her branding session on her ranch in Markerville. 

The herd grazing under the ocean-wide skies

Rook and Ash tending to the herd so we can  "moo've them to their next grazing zone

Adding a bit of  splash to our yard fencing

Master Rook inspects the quality of my craftsmanship 

Our amphibian friend  

Master Rook takes a break from his busy schedule to pose  with a new deck plant with our Guard Bear "Jasper"

"These Boots Where Made for Walking! 

Denise's young steers after their branding session sporting their  "Smiley face" brands:-)

Denise's Aussie Boy "Blue"

And her Aussie gal Miss "Maddy"