talkin' trash

There are some things in life you must experience before you fully understand. One of those things is the reason why anyone might want to talk trash to an animal.

I did it.

I even jabbed my fingers down at him.

And if I didn't kick the trailer he was in, I sure wanted to.

Billy is a rented ram. He bleats in a higher pitch than the ewes, yet he has a horrible domineering attitude. If we come close to the pen, he starts butting his head around like he's-da-ram. He even struts around the ewes with an I'm-yo-daddy kind of ego. So, when Billy peed in front of the stock trailer yesterday and lifted his front lip, baring his teeth with his head held high, we cringed and our anger boiled.

Sheep are typically dumb animals. Billy is no exception...except that he wasn't dumb enough to buy into our luring. Before we started, it seemed a simple task to move him from the pen to the trailer. Oats and corn would surely do the trick. They didn't. Sheep are also vulnerable animals. Sheep are easy to disable if you grab their far rear flank with one hand and extend your other hand under their neck. Uh...I guess this is easy with lambs. We had a little trouble with this 175-pound ram. He protested by going limp.

Sixty minutes into this 95-degree endeavor, our patience ran out. Jared mustered up all his strength and pulled the ram into the trailer. Problem #54: How does one shut the trailer door with four fat ewes in the way? Despite Jared's kicking and shoving the ram while I squished the ewes trying to get the trailer door shut, Billy jumped out. You can imagine our frustration and the fury.

Ninety minutes in...beginning the whole process again, we finally succeeded, slamming that trailer door shut so hard it would've broken a leg had one been stuck in the door. I made a fist and yelled, "YESSSS!!!!!!!!!" Jared leaned his arm on the trailer, shook his head and smiled. And I talked trash to that ram.

(No pictures today.) :)

P.S. I didn't cuss. I promise.