Romeo
By Jane-Ann Heitmueller
Nearly
four years ago when we purchased him at the local auction, we had high hopes
that the handsome, young bull would be healthy, hearty and have a strong desire
to procreate. None of our “ladies” had
produced a calf in a while. Perhaps some new stock would get things moving in
that department. We named him Romeo, feeling certain we would soon be adding several
newborn calves to our small herd.
Although the solid black, six month old was
quite an impressive sight to behold as he bounded regally from the cattle
trailer into the pasture that warm spring
afternoon, the “girls” continued to placidly graze on the fresh green shoots,
hardly acknowledging the impressive stranger at all. Not even the bright yellow
sale tag in his ear attracted their attention. We, on the other hand, were
quite taken with him as we watched him strut around with his head held high,
curiously observing his new domain. Yes
sir, this fellow was going to be exactly what we had hoped for to handle the
task at hand.
We waited patiently, and in due time two beautiful,
perfect calves arrived. It’s been two years now and there have been no more births.
We’ve begun to wonder if maybe it was a bad decision to purchase this young
bull. Apparently, Romeo’s lack of procreation has been replaced by his ability
as a comedian or demolition expert. We have come to the conclusion that he is
simply a typical mischievous, bored, teenage boy whose major daily activity
lies in amusing himself with fun and frolic.
We first noticed Romeo’s strange temperament
the day I heard repeated banging sounds coming from the lower pasture. When I
went to investigate, I could hardly believe my eyes. There was Romeo… happily
butting his head against the metal hay trailer tailgate, causing it to
repeatedly lift and fall with a thunderous boom, boom, boom! I almost imagined I could detect a grin
on his face and am certain I saw a sparkle in those big brown eyes of his. He
was having a grand time and kept at his mischief for over a half hour.
A few weeks later he rolled two 250 gallon
metal barrels down the hill from the pasture to the creek bed below. Next thing we knew, he was pushing a five
foot tall round bale of hay back and forth across the pasture, as well as
tumbling around a 200 pound protein bucket as if it were a beach ball. He’s
scattered sheets of tin, plows, metal scoops and a fertilizer spreader. It
seems that Romeo had created his own private amusement park.
Another fact that makes us wonder if Romeo
will ever grow up is his voice. It has
yet to go through the normal transition from youngster to man. As most bulls
mature they develop a strong, deep bellow. Our Romeo still sounds like a young girl,
which is rather pathetic coming from the mouth of such a magnificent looking
creature.
We’ve had several memorable cattle over the
years, but Romeo certainly tops the list as the most unusual. Maybe we should
have taken a clue from the cows the day he arrived, when they ignored him, wanting
nothing to do with him. Has time now come for him to share his talents
elsewhere? If you are in need of an entertaining bull, rather than a prolific
one, please feel free to let us know. We’ll make you a good deal on Romeo and
give you a written guarantee that you’ll enjoy hours of laughter from his daily
antics.