Upon checking in at the ranch where our rental cabin was, I asked the owner where were the cattle. As we do not usually travel this way in the winter, it had not occurred to me that, of course, the ranchers bring their livestock into their barns over the winter. Although the ranch we were at is very large, the owners do not keep their own cattle but rather lease out their pastures to other ranchers who bring the cattle there for the summer. As it turned out, they expected the rancher to start delivering his cattle the next day! Hooray, I thought, I will get to see some real ranching up close!
Fortunately, our cute little log cabin overlooked the corral. About mid-morning, I heard a lot of clattering and other noise. Realizing that the cattle had arrived, I found a spot nearby to watch the procedure. The cattle were loaded off the trailer down through a narrow fenced passage from which they burst out into the large soil-filled corral. Knowing little about the habits of cattle, I watched with interest as they immediately went to the fence to eat the grass growing on the other side. They appeared jubilant at the prospect of eating real grass rather than the hay and other feed they received during the winter. (Really, I am only guessing, here!) I made two observations: they looked like only steers (no females) and I guessed they were about one year old. The cattle trailer left and I wondered what would happen next.
The cattle moved around the corral in herd-mentality formation: one steer moved to a spot then all the others followed. As I watched ten or twelve gather at one end near a gate, I noticed some rapid movement within the pack. Were they trying to rustle each other out of the way, or was it just playful interaction? Some of the cattle moved away and I saw that one was kicking his rear legs and swinging his rear-end back and forth. What was going on? I watched through my camera’s telephoto lens for a closer view. Curiously, it appeared that, while reaching for the grass under and beyond the fence, a steer had got his head stuck between some metals bars of the gate!
Feeling a mixture of amazement and pity, I watched and wondered how the steer would free itself. By this time, the herd had moved to the other end of the corral, but when they realized something was wrong many returned to keep the stuck steer company (if cattle really had that instinct). After a few minutes, though, the herd returned to feeding at other places along the fence. My amazement and pity turned to cautious desperation – no one was around to help the steer. What should I do? I put on my boots and coat thinking I should let the landowner know, even though the cattle were not her responsibility. As I hesitated, not sure where to find her on the very large property, the solution came into view.A pickup truck with three sheepdogs in the back came up the road pulling a horse trailer. Out jumped the rancher dressed in the essential cowboy outfit: felt hat, boots with spurs (!), jeans with a large silver belt buckle and a classic cowboy shirt. Help had arrived! I walked toward him. “Hello there! Are you in charge of these cattle?” “Yes.” “Just want you to know that one is stuck in the bars of the gate.” Now everything would be fine so I returned to my viewpoint perch and watched the rescue begin.
The rancher pulled his horse out of the trailer, securing ropes to the saddle while commanding his dogs to remain in the pickup truck (presumably not needing them for this rescue operation.) The landowner joined him (a cowgirl in her own right) but cell phone calls to several others for help were unanswered. Having moved much closer to the excitement, I listened to the conversation between to two as they discussed various solutions to free the steer. Apparently, the steer had turned his head on an angle sideways to reach through the bars of the gate to the grass, but now could not figure out how to turn his head that same way to escape. “Cows are stupid!” the rancher said. Although both ranchers tried to turn the steer’s head with their hands, it was too heavy and the steer too stubborn to comply. The solution: get the steer to lie down on his side so that his head would be turned sideways and then they could pull him out. Easier said than done! After many attempts with the ropes and much pulling, they got the steer to lie down. Then using the ropes they had tied around the rear legs, the rancher, on horseback, pulled the steer and his head came free! Seeming not worse for the trouble, he quickly got up and trotted over to his friends with much moo-ing in greeting! What a relief! I quickly returned to my safe viewing perch, now out of the way of the rancher as he opened the gate and, with his dogs’ help, moved the cattle from the corral out to the nearby pasture.
As this rescue scene unfolded in front of me, another story of rescue came to mind: the Parable of the Lost Sheep that Jesus told his disciples while speaking to them about the importance of children in the Kingdom of Heaven.
“If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? And if he finds it, he will surely rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18: 12-14).
How wonderful that God provided me with this real-live picture of His concern for each one of us. How thankful I am that Jesus rescued me from eternal death so that I may live with Him in heaven forever. Even when I wandered away from the relationship I had started with Him, He kept watching out for me and met me in my time of trouble, forgiving me for my sins against Him, and welcoming me back into the arms of His family.
Dear Reader, if you have wandered away from God and now feel lost without Him or are in deep trouble, call out to Jesus and He will come to your rescue. Do not delay, for it is better to be in His corral under His protection than out in the wilderness!
