Wild cattle

“ Here a herd of wild cattle has been preserved down to the present day, and they retain their wild characteristics like those at Chillingham. They are cream-coloured, with black muzzles and ears; their fine sharp horns are also tipped with black. They are not easily approached, but are harmless, unless molested. ”

“ The wild cattle in general are said to be stronger and bigger, than European cattle, and of a brown red colour. Their horns are but short, though very thick close to the head. These and several other qualities, which they have in common with, and in greater perfection than the tame cattle, have induced some to endeavour to tame them ”

“ To one who has only known cattle in the Eastern States from watching working-oxen crawling along a road a mile and a half in an hour, or mild old dairy-cows loafing home from pasture at night, these spirited wild cattle seem a different race of animals. ”

“ The way we get wild cattle here-abouts is to take out a mob of quiet cattle, what we call coachers, and let ’em feed in the moonlight alongside the scrub, while we wait back out o’ the road and watch ’em. When the wild cattle come out, they run over to see the coachers, and we dash up and cut ’em off from the scrub, and hustle ’em together into the open. ”

“ All the work done among cattle is on horseback, which includes herding, driving, cutting and roping. The trained cow pony seemingly knows as much about a round-up as his master, and the two, together, form a combination that is invincible in a herd of wild cattle. The cow or steer that is selected to be roped or cut out rarely escapes. ”

“ The cow occupies the first place among domestic animals, in value to the American people, not excepting even the horse. From the original stock, still kept as [Pg 141] a curiosity on the grounds of some English noblemen, cattle have been greatly improved by care in breeding and feeding. Those wild animals are still beautiful, but only about one third of the weight of the ordinary improved cattle, and not more than one fourth that of the most improved. Improving the breed of cattle is a subject by itself, demanding a separate treatise. ”

“ The native cattle, like the horses, are small and wild, but are hardy and make good rustlers. The native stock has been greatly improved in recent years by cross breeding with thoroughbred Durham and Hereford bulls. Grade cattle are better suited for the open range than are pure bred animals, which are more tender and fare better in fenced pastures. By cross breeding the quality of range cattle has steadily improved until the scrub element has been almost bred out. ”

“ The ancestors of the British wild cattle were therefore mighty and untameable monsters of unconquerable ferocity, and none could be found more likely than the Uri of the Hercynian forest in Western Germany. ”

“ I was partial to heifers, and when one was sighted there was no brush so thick or animal so wild that it was not “fish” to my rope. In many instances a cow of unknown brand was still followed by her two-year-old, yearling, and present calf. Under the customs of the country, any unbranded animal, one year old or over, was a maverick, and the property of any one who cared to brand the unclaimed stray. Thousands of cattle thus lived to old age, multiplied and increased, died and became food for worms, unowned. ”

“ There is no reason why domestic cattle may not take their place. The climate, soil, and vegetation are as well adapted to the tame as to the wild. The latter lived and thrived the year round all the way up to latitude fifty degrees north. Twenty years' experience proves that the former do equally well upon the same range, and with the same lack of care. ”

“ The wild cow calves generally at one period, and that period later by a month than our tame cattle; then they all, as if with one accord, withdraw themselves from the mountains and rocks, and resort in large families to the valleys, where there is open ground, with small clumps of wood affording shelter and preservation; as there they can see the approach of an enemy from afar. The cows herd together in the centre, and the bulls graze in the distance: all in sight of each other. ”

“ The wild ones gradually became gentle, and with constant handling these wild animals were located until they would come in of their own accord for the privilege of sleeping in a corral. But when winter approached the herd was turned free, that the cattle might protect themselves from storms, and we gathered our few effects together and started for the settlements. ”

“ These resemblances led many writers to conclude that the wild white cattle, and most of our domestic breeds, are of the self-same race, descended from the same original stock, and that, while in bygone times the ancestors of the domestic ones had been captured and tamed, the ancestors of the wild ones, by so me lucky chance, had escaped the thrall of man. ”

“ The problem of tracing the ancestry of the whole was thus narrowed down to tracing that of a very few, and not only from their very picturesqueness, and the fact that they had never been tamed, but also because they had been referred to more than once in early writings, the wild white cattle afforded the most attractive clue. ”

“ There appeared to be little cultivation, with the exception of potatoes. The climate does not permit wheat or barley to ripen, though, perhaps, oats or rye might succeed. The tame cattle seemed to me stunted and miserable, but in the forests there are others of a wild breed, which are said to be large and of excellent quality; these, as well as the red deer, afford, during some portion of the year, occupation to a few hunters, who obtain high prices for their meat, but the supply is too scanty and irregular to prevent fresh meat from being a rare luxury. ”

“ Not far inland there are extensive meadows, where large herds of horned cattle are raised, together with a breed of half-wild horses, the breaking and domesticating of which, as here practiced, is a most cruel process. ”

“ It has also been maintained by those who hold that the wild white cattle at least are descended from Bos primigenius, that they have deteriorated in size through confinement and consequent in-breeding. ”

“ In the comparatively roving and uncertain life which the earlier inhabitants led, their cattle would sometimes stray and be lost. The country was at that time overgrown with forests, and the beasts betook themselves to the recesses of these woods, and became wild and sometimes ferocious. They, by degrees, grew so numerous as to be dangerous to the inhabitants of the neighboring districts. ”

“ I had a vague dread that wild cattle might be near, or that some sportsman or poacher might discover me. ”

“ Their horned cattle numbered four hundred and twenty-four thousand; their horses, mules, and asses, besides the wild ones that scoured the plains in troops, sixty-two thousand five hundred; their sheep, goats, and swine, three hundred and twenty-one thousand; and the wheat, barley, maize, and other grains they raised measured one hundred and twenty-two thousand five hundred bushels annually. The richest in cattle and horses, and the greatest grain-producer, was San Gabriel, now a modest hamlet. ”

“ The original wild type from which the various breeds of domestic cattle are descended is not well known. Through ancient sculptures and other records cattle can be traced back at least 4000 years, and the earliest evidences indicate that animals of different types were then known. ”

“ To me the evidence appears overwhelmingly to prove that the modern park cattle are not wild survivors of the Urus, but are the descendants of a race which had escaped from domestication, and had lived a feral life till they were enclosed in the parks and chases of the mediaeval magnates. ”

“ What we are asked to believe is that our wild white cattle, and some at least of our domestic breeds trace back direct to this ancient giant, Bos primigenius. Sentiment and vanity tempt us to accept the belief, although we admit, in doing so, that our forefathers have left us a sadly degenerate legacy. ”

“ When the price of cattle, for example, rises so high, that it is as profitable to cultivate land in order to raise food for them as in order to raise food for man, it cannot well go higher. If it did, more corn land would soon be turned into pasture. The extension of tillage, by diminishing the quantity of wild pasture, diminishes the quantity of butcher’s meat, which the country naturally produces without labour or cultivation; and, by increasing the number of those who have either corn, or, what comes to the same thing, the price of corn, to give in exchange for it, increases the demand. ”

“ The home-coming of the cows at eventime has been sung about, written about, talked about, painted, and always it has had in it the restfulness of evening,—the drowsy whirr of insects' wings, the benediction of the sunset, the welcoming gladness of a happy family. But these pictures have not been painted by those of us who have seen the hungry cattle come in from the range when the snow covers the grass, or the springs dry up, and under the influence of fear they drive madly on. ”

“ As breeders of domestic animals, when they choose certain varieties in preference to others to breed from, speak technically of their method as that of 'selecting,' Mr. Darwin calls the combination of natural causes, which may enable certain varieties of wild animals or plants to prevail over others of the same species, 'natural selection.'
A breeder finds that a new race of cattle with short horns or without horns may be formed, in the course of several generations, by choosing varieties having the most stunted horns as his stock from which to breed; ”

“ With entire adaptedness to the soil, climate, and wants of the farmer, an originally good stock has, in frequent instances, been carefully fostered, and the breeding animals selected with a strict reference to their fitness for perpetuating the most desirable qualities. As a consequence of this intelligent and persevering policy, widely, but not universally pursued, they have a race of cattle, though possessing considerable diversity of size and color, yet coinciding in a remarkable degree in the possession of those utilitarian features, which so justly commend them to our admiration. ”

“ Nowhere else can be found a finer sight than is witnessed in the range country. In every direction broad meadows stretch away to the horizon where numberless cattle roam and are the embodiment of bovine happiness and contentment. Scattered about in irregular groups they are seen at ease lying down or feeding, and frisking about in an overflow of exuberant life. Cow paths or trails converge from every point of the compass, that lead to springs and water holes, on which the cattle travel. ”

“ By this means, very few or no division-fences are required: instead of 1 1/3 of an acre, one-fourth part will suffice for the subsistence of a beast during the six warmer months; the whole of their manure is well preserved, and given to the soil, where it is most wanted, and in the best condition; the land is not trodden in, and the cattle always ready for immediate rise. They are also kept more cool, are less tormented by flies than if pastured, acquire good coats, and full flesh; though they consume a much smaller quantity of food. ”

“ The tired cows spread themselves over pastures which the snows have lately left, feeding ravenously on the delicious young grass, starred with gentians and primulas, and hosts of bright-eyed tiny flowers. And then begins a rare time for men and cattle. ”

“ My boys, here on the Beaver, report a measly loss of twelve head, out of over five hundred cattle. And you must recollect that these were rag-tag and bob-tail, the flotsam of a hundred herds, forty per cent cripples, walking on crutches. Think of it! Two per cent loss, under herd, a sleet over the range for six weeks, against your ten per cent kill on an open range. You must have a slatterly, sore-thumbed lot of men on your beef ranch. ”

“ Throughout other parts bullocks are fed on pasture land, and also in stables on nourishing and succulent feed such as hay, Indian corn fodder, Indian corn silage, turnips, carrots, mangels, ground oats, barley, peas, Indian corn, rye, bran and linseed oil cake. The breeding of cattle, adapted for the production of prime beef and of dairy cows for the production of milk, butter and cheese, has received much attention. There is government control of the spaces on the steamships in which the cattle are carried, and veterinary inspection prevents the exportation of diseased animals. ”

“ "O Mary, go and call the cattle home,
And call the cattle home,
And call the cattle home,
Across the sands o' Dee;"
The western wind was wild and dank wi' foam,
And all alone went she. ”

“ On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been born and are following their mothers.
The cow-punchers go into the vast herds and drive out the calves. Of course, the mother follows the calf, lowing piteously for it.
When the cow is out with the calf, it can be plainly seen to whom she belongs by the brand on her. Her owner, or his men or representatives, promptly throw her and the calf into their own herd, and later put their brand on the calf. ”

“ This is injurious in all domestic animals and fowls. Always have the cow and the bull from different regions: attention to this would constantly improve any breed we have, and by improving the size of cattle, and milking qualities of cows, would add vast amounts to the wealth of farmers, without the necessity of purchasing, at a great price, any of the high-bred cattle. We have observed, in our article on calves, that abundant feeding during the first year has much to do with the excellence of stock. ”