beulahbondo's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The freshest things on campus Okay, I have to pack for a camping trip, but first I must report that yesterday I saw two cows give birth. One at 1 pm and one at 7 pm. It was fascinating and beautiful. Everything I know intellectually about birth before my very eyes, on a bed of straw. I helped with the second one - I pulled on the rope that was tied to the calf's emerging hooves. And oh those hooves! So pearly yellowy-white, never having touched the ground. Lola, the heifer, calmly licked amniotic fluid from the barn floor while her back end did all the work. She only grunted once. She seemed a little interested in her calf when we placed it next to her (I got to put the pile of hay under the calf's head) - she licked up its afterbirth. Today both calves are standing up, with great and touching effort, and their coats are all beautiful and shiny black and white. The toddler cows demand a lot of human attention and will suck the shirt right off you. Okay, I must bounce now. Baby Fawn, I wish you were here to balance out the perkiness and add some style to the sulking. Teasel, tell Lulu we miss her. 11:53 p.m. - 2003-07-11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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