Thumpin' Critters, NID... (campground, vs, shop)

[brokencrayola]

Lots of good info on this thread.

When we lived in S. Idaho there is a lot of free range and we saw cows on the road many times and came VERY close to hitting a cow and calf one night. That sure wakes you up quick.

Anytime a train is going by next to where I am driving I am especially careful, as they often scare up the deer.

Do not rely of seeing eyes that light up with your headlights. I have come close to hitting 2 moose at different times and neither could I see their eyes. That is what I worry most about hitting, moose. Many pople arehurt and killed every year hitting them. With their long legs they easily go right up over the front of the car and through the windshield.

I ex-husband worked for Fish and Game, and we lived in S. Idaho at the time. He had just gotten a new windshield on the F&G truck and was coming back. A pheasant flew across the road and straight into the windshield and shattered it.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

I had another REAL close call a few years back, you people talking about cattle made me remember. Down south of Mica Flats, was on a side road on one of those dark, rainy nights that just see to suck up your headlights. Come around a corner and something was out of place...turned out it was an ear-tag on a cow. Big, solid black (angus?) standing in the middle of the road, the only thing I saw was that tag. Missed her.

I was in the local fire department at that time too. A few weeks later a MVA went on the board as "Dodge vs Angus", big black Dodge pickup vs big black angus. Both were totaled.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

I had another REAL close call a few years back, you people talking about cattle made me remember. Down south of Mica Flats, was on a side road on one of those dark, rainy nights that just see to suck up your headlights. Come around a corner and something was out of place...turned out it was an ear-tag on a cow. Big, solid black (angus?) standing in the middle of the road, the only thing I saw was that tag. Missed her.

I was in the local fire department at that time too. A few weeks later a MVA went on the board as "Dodge vs Angus", big black Dodge pickup vs big black angus. Both were totaled.

Yup. A registered Black Angus has no white hair on it. Their skin is black, and there are no whites around their eyes.
The latest thing in ear tags are now the reflective ones using the same material that's used on reflective highway signs and bike jackets. These tags make the cattle much more visible at night and easier to spot out on the range at daytime.
There have been glow-in-the-dark ear tags around for quite a while, but the glow chemicals fade away over time.

[brokencrayola]

That's pretty scary, a solid black huge cow in the road.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by brokencrayola

That's pretty scary, a solid black huge cow in the road.

Oh, ya shoulda been there!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by brokencrayola

Do not rely of seeing eyes that light up with your headlights. I have come close to hitting 2 moose at different times and neither could I see their eyes. That is what I worry most about hitting, moose. Many pople arehurt and killed every year hitting them. With their long legs they easily go right up over the front of the car and through the windshield.

I ex-husband worked for Fish and Game, and we lived in S. Idaho at the time. He had just gotten a new windshield on the F&G truck and was coming back. A pheasant flew across the road and straight into the windshield and shattered it.

Good point, about the eyes--sometimes I've seen them, but more often I haven't. And sometimes I think I see eyes in the dark, and they're reflectors on fences!
On 200 right by the Pack River Delta and the golf club some huge bird flew right in front of our windshield in the twilight. That really wakes you up! Fortunately we didn't hit it.

[chevpu1967]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

Oh, ya shoulda been there!

I was there Saturday night here in Oklahoma. I saw the darkness shimmer like the camouflage in the Predator movies. From 60 to 0 in 3.8 seconds as two (2) walking 3000 pound steaks on hooves crossed the road in front of me... all black and not caring about a thing in the world. I sent a text to my neighbor and told him I saw dinner crossing the road. He thanked me and went and got them. I didn't have to clean out my underwear or my car as I was scared sh**less.

[brokencrayola]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Good point, about the eyes--sometimes I've seen them, but more often I haven't. And sometimes I think I see eyes in the dark, and they're reflectors on fences!
On 200 right by the Pack River Delta and the golf club some huge bird flew right in front of our windshield in the twilight. That really wakes you up! Fortunately we didn't hit it.

I was driving home on Hwy 200 at the Pack River Delta and there was a huge moose, like one step from being right in front of my car. I saw no eye reflection, I just saw its legs and then head lit up by my headlights. In the same area I once had a buck deer jump over the guard rail right across the road in front of me.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Yup. A registered Black Angus has no white hair on it. Their skin is black, and there are no whites around their eyes.
The latest thing in ear tags are now the reflective ones using the same material that's used on reflective highway signs and bike jackets. These tags make the cattle much more visible at night and easier to spot out on the range at daytime.
There have been glow-in-the-dark ear tags around for quite a while, but the glow chemicals fade away over time.

They really need to outlaw black cows! Breed them to be hunter orange...preferrably reflective! Maybe we can bring a few up from Hanford, I understand they glow in the dark.

[banjomike]

Hi, Toyman...
On the other hand, the Anugs really stand out in a snowbank!

The Angus have been popular in the Intermountain West for a long time for some very good reasons. They mature quicker than Herefords, have an easier time calving, and the mama cows' udders don't get sunburned like the Herefords' sometimes do. There is a notion back east that the Angus beef is naturally more tender and less fatty that other cattle, so Angus commands a higher price than other beef. All this has made Angus and crossed Angus herds to grow increasingly over the years. We are bound to see more of them as the cattle market here stays as high as it is.

Idaho has been fortunate over the past 5 years; we have not been afflicted by the severe drought that has encompassed all the the plains states to eastward. We have been droughty, but not nearly so bad as 50% of the nation. Most beef is no longer raised on the big range we have here, except for Texas, part of Colorado, the Dakotas, and New Mexico and Oklahoma. All of those states have been severely impacted by the drought, and they are selling off their herds as a result.

We profit, but it is sorrowful. I wish all those other ranchers all the best, and I hope the drought breaks soon everywhere.

Interestingly, there are several other popular cattle beef breeds folks don't know very much about that are found in Idaho. The blonde Charolais, a French breed is much like the Angus, except larger, and the sold red Terantaise, another French breed that comes from the Alps, is also very similar in size and quality to the Angus. The Terentaise can also be used as milk cows, unlike other beef breeds. The ancient Highland Scots cattle are being grown for very high and cold alpine areas in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho and are also doing very well; they can prosper where all others cannot.

All are very hardy in this climate and the Terentaise out-performs the Angus in several critical areas. The Hereford, once the king of the open range, is no longer the only cow ranchers look at.