Thursday, March 17, 2011

What do you do when you're banded, but you know you're a man?

 Today we're going to talk about banding.
No, you don't get to play bass guitar, pay attention, this is a tutorial about cows.
And calves.
Boy calves.
(Insert evil laughter)
This is the calf foolishly thinking he's got a chance to get away.
No one EVER gets away.

This is My Cowboy making the grab.
My Cowboy is thinking, Bulls are Nothing But Trouble.
We can't have bulls.
Well, maybe we can have one, but not this little guy.

 I call this picture Clueless
Look at the little calf, head up, smiling for the camera.
No clue that life as he knows it is about to change forever...due to banding.
The tool in My Cowboy's hand is sort of a pair of pliers. To which he attached a rubber band.
He uses the pliers to stretch the tiny rubber band, slides it over the little boy's...........pride and joy
And snaps it off the pliers. Thus adding a band to cut off circulation in a completely painless, bloodless, clearly trauma-less
(I'm going to say it, turn away now if you have to, last chance)
castration
 
 Here is is the picture I think of as SNAP

Here is mama saying, "Get up my little steer, you're fine...well, fine-ish."
Note the pliers, innocent little tools of the trade.

And here is mama and baby doing fine, with no idea life as he knows it has....well, you get the picture.

12 comments:

J.J. Jenkins said...

What you don't know is that the little Calf, being an evil genius in his youth has just uttered the words, "Okay Cowboy...what goes around comes around, and I'd sleep with one eye open if I were you, cuz I already have friends in LOW places! Just wait until you meet my friend Loreena Bobbit, she is one crazy animal lover!"

Mary Connealy said...

You HAD TO MENTION LOREENA BOBBIT, right?

Maybe instead of calling my husband My Cowboy on this blog. I'll start calling him Loreena. We'll see how well that goes over.

Debby Giusti said...

So that's how it's done.

Thanks, Mary.

Faith said...

My uncles do it at the same time as branding every spring around May, but then they're cows calf later.
Never heard of people doing it this way.
But it was interesting to learn about!

Ruth Logan Herne said...

The bloodless castrator!!!

In James Herriott's books he'd talk about the Burdozzo clamp, or something like that, that crushed the spermatic duct. Only if farmers waited too long to call the vet out to do it, it was a whole different kind of project to close the handle of that 'tool' around a bigger calf.

Mary this rocks! Great tutorial. And your cowboy is cute as a button.

May the K9 Spy (and KC Frantzen) said...

ah these photos... and the commentary. :) Mary, you are such a pleasure to read. (But really, "Loreena" is no substitute for "My cowboy" - nahhh...)

OOOH - Ruthy - Herriott is one of my faves ever. Growing up as a vet's daughter, I could so relate.

Mary Connealy said...

We used to use the clamp James Herriot talks about, but it's a failure too often.

The will of the human spirit (well, cow spirit) over rides as single PINCH.

So now we used rubber bands. Remember this moment next time you put a rubber band around your wrist. It can end badly.

Vince said...

Oy, vey.

Forget Ford Madox Ford’s “The Good Soldier” – this is the saddest story ever told.

Vince

Mary Connealy said...

LOL
Vince, I laughed out loud. And I'm in a place where that is very embarrassing.

Pepper said...

Why do I feel really guilty for laughing about that certain commentary, Mary?

Karen said...

Thanks for that tutorial, I think? :)

Mary Connealy said...

Karen, I completely respect your doubts.