Recent heavy rains have done more than make grass grow. Bugs
like this moisture, and they’re reproducing at record rates and sponsoring
insect gatherings in town and out. Not only are humans swatting and smacking at
bugs torturing fleshy landing pads on arms, legs, foreheads, and more, beasts
are busy dodging biting and stinging creatures as well.
During a visit to Mom’s in Wakeeney, we decided to drive
about to see what effect these downpours have had on roads, streams, pastures, and
fields. We didn’t need to look long before we saw washed out rural routes and
fields, brush hanging off highest fence lines or dangling from tree branches
bordering creeks and streams, shallow ponds drowning once thriving wheat, and
cow herds massed tightly into fence corners.
When I first saw those bovines grouped like junior high
girls at their first dance, I thought about the old saying that cattle
gathering in corners predicted impending storms. I was puzzled because I’d
checked the weather channel that morning, and, while it’s not always accurate,
it had forecast clear days ahead. Why, then, were these girls and their calves
snuggled tight enough you couldn’t count them on a hot day?
I couldn’t imagine that they wanted to be positioned nose to
tail or side to side so close that nothing could make its way through that herd
without major rearranging. Then a fly bit me at the same time a mosquito announced
its irritating presence with an obnoxious whine. Aha, those cows had united to
protect themselves and one another from noisy, hungry, flying hordes.
While humans use hands to swat, flatten, or wave away these
aggravations, cows don’t have that option. All they have is a tail—a nice
switchy device with a knot of hair at the end, but it’s hardly adequate to
address swarms of starving bugs. Their problem-solving strategy impressed me.
No dumb animals here; these girls did not intend to be passive victims.
Such close proximity might have forced less than hygienic cattle
to not only smell but absorb body odors emerging from various, slimy orifices.
However, I doubt that’s a real concern for creatures that start life nursing directly
underneath their mother’s tails. Nope, these gals and their babes got up close
and personal, leaving tails free to swipe and slap each other’s pests.
While making sure I observed at a distance far enough away to
avoid inviting their six-legged tormentors to land on me, I noted that mamas
and babies chewed cuds, stomped feet, and swished perfectly designed fly
swatters in such a rhythm that it kept those blood suckers from landing on them
or any nearby bovine. An army of agitated insects hovered overhead in a hangry cloud. I’m sure if I’d been
closer, I’d have heard audible complaints.
I enjoyed cruising the countryside to view Mother Nature’s recent
activity. Even more, I appreciated watching the wrastling match between cattle and insects. It’s good to know that
bovines can deal effectively with airborne forces possessing nasty stingers and
sharp chompers. I’m definitely pleased that I come with hands that can use a
flyswatter.
