For most people livestock are possessions. They’re just something to own. For me they’re more like neighbors. Just like the deer they too have a whole language…not of snorts but of dinosaur sounding terra-dactyl noises. There is a specific noise for “i’m hungry. Where’s the truck that brings us food?” Theres a different noise for “i’m having a baby.” And theres another noise for “theres a threat over here” that usually signals the arrival of a coyote/coyotes. I dont know how to say hello in longhorn so i dont speak any of the three longhorn noises i know. Instead i just stand at the fence and make a clicking noise with my tongue. The herd usually walks in my direction and stops with the nearest longhorn twenty or thirty feet away from the fence. I can hear their hooves padding through the dry grass as they come my way. They eye me with curiosity as they chew. No one speaks. They’re pretty quiet unless someone is having a baby, a predator is spotted, or its near feeding time. I just like to watch them mostly. Unfortunately anyone who drives by in a car feels the need to identify who i am and why im looking at my neighbor’s livestock. I feel at a loss to explain to them that i value time spent amongst animals and trees over time spent with humans and im really just hanging out. Watching them chew. It makes me happy. If all you had to do to be happy was stand in the presence of cows…wouldn’t your life be a bit easier? Don’t knock my brand of being just because it doesnt work for you. Im not a cow thief. Im not an activist. Im just a human who considers longhorns my neighbors while the rest of the humans count the owners as their peers.
Aren’t they beautiful?