Long Horn Cattle

Long Horn Cattle, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

Driving back from a walk in the woods, I noticed these cows. They are not a breed usually seen around here and reminded me a it of the highland cattle we saw in Scotland, but their faces weren't covered with hair. The babies had more hair covering their bodies.

We started to hear the sound of geese and soon flock after flock flew over on their journey south. The setting sun caught their underbellies, painting them gold. I thrill at their sound, watching in awe at the thought of the distance they will travel and how they find their way back and forth each year. 

Night time temperatures drop below freezing. Autumn is waning.

On the Road

Livestock At Large, originally uploaded by susanvg.

A drive from Banff to Brooks is an extraordinary experience. The day starts in majestic mountains, rocky, craggy and snow capped. We drove down through the Kananaskis Mountains. We stopped for a short hike only to see goats on the road.

A Columbia ground squirrel made its presence known with high pitched squeaks.
Some livestock are free to range in the along the way. Texas gates keep them from going past certain boundaries. We had to wait while they crossed the road.

Eventually the mountains turned to hills and the forests gave way to farmland. Oil wells look out of place in the middle of fields.

Still later the land flattened even more - fields of grass, bales of hay, reaching out to the sky. Brooks is in the Badlands of Alberta. Coming.... a trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park.