Cows

My wife's parents keep cows in the pasture next to their house. It is a fenced in area about an acre or two. At any given time there are four or five cows running around. They also have chickens. The chickens and the cows get along fine and usually only talk to each other at the watering hole, a spigot that is about twenty feet away from the gate with a large tire placed in the ground to hold the water. The chickens are not as smart as the cows. The cows are always watching. They are constantly planning their escape from the confines of the fence. The cows will talk to my father-in-law but only seem to yell at me or anyone else as we enter their yard. IF you show so much as a little fear the cows will chase you around the yard. My wife has experienced this many times throughout the years and has had some very close encounters with the cows. One summer day while we were visiting, I went out with my father-in-law to feed the cows and chickens. It is always very important to close the gate behind oneself when entering the cows domain. I shut the gate and followed my father-in-law to the hay. I helped put it out for them and then it was time to feed the chickens. The chickens get the leftover food. My mother-in-law scrapes all of the leftover food into a size ten metal can called affectionately the chicken dish. When this is full the dish is taken out and spread out in the pasture for the chickens to eat. The cows sometimes like what comes out in the chicken dish as well so it is usually a race for whichever animal can get there the fastest. Having everyone fed we went back into the house carrying the empty chicken dish. I closed the gate behind me. The cows were watching. I didn't know the cows were watching. No sooner did I close the back door one cow was at the gate using its small horn to lift the latch I had just latched. The cow lifted the gate up and unlatched it. The gate swung open and the cow ran into the yard, free. the other cows started to follow but someone noticed that the cow had gotten loose and we ran back outside to corral the beast and get it back into the yard. I ran behind it while father-in-law tried to get it to come towards him. Nothing seemed to work. My wife, who does not like cows, stayed away and watched. Mother-in-law came out with a loaf of bread and started waving a slice at the cow. It turned and saw the bread. It was as if the cow and my mother-in-law connected. The cow made a bee line for my mother-in-law and the bread she held in her hand. She dropped the slice and then moved closer to the gate and waited. The cow at the slice on the ground then looked up for more. Finding my mother-in-law the cow went closer to the gate. The process repeated itself until the cow was back in the pasture with the other cows. The gate shut again. Father-in-law went and got some rope and a few nails. He put the nails in the bottom of the gate and attached the rope. Now the gate has to be opened by a latch and a rope. We shall see when the cow figures out this new mechanism.