This is the artistic pastoral side of having cattle on your property. But you should check out what else they provide and take away.
The grass around my favourite fence is being mowed. The down side is they keep turning the horizontal posts around and are using the posts on the ground as field makers?? I have no idea why they keep moving them. They also keep turning the bench by the big pond upside down. I’ve given up on that one as it seems like a game to them and it’s heavy.
The year started out quite dry but we’ve as a fair amount of rain in the last 3 weeks. 75% of the cow patties have mushrooms. This could be tasty or deadly and we aren’t sure which so we aren’t going there. There are some super cool looking ones that’s for sure.
Less wild flowers this year but is that because it’s dry or because the yearlings are eating them? I’m not sure but I do miss the colour on the prairie. So when I see new ones I’m all excited.
Here is the biggest downside. Turns out that yearlings like Saskatoon bushes and berries. They are not clean eaters and are apt to destroy undergrowth as they crash through the bush. There are 19 of them and they have all day to eat while I only have a few hours here and there to pick. The good news is they do not have arms nor hands so can’t get at all the tall ones.
Shortly after this picture the lead yearling tried to eat out of MY pail! They are very friendly and inquisitive but since the “cow” incident my dogs aren’t reciprocating. Breeze is right by my leg and Lucky gives them a way wider berth than he used to.
The yearlings are quite content for me to walk through them. This one wasn’t the least phased that I was talking and quite close by. They often came by to watch Ron put the siding on the tractor shed; he felt it was for the “moosic”. 
Now momma cow and baby are quite a different story and we all give each other a wide berth. The calf did come up to the fence line to check out the cat the other night.
It’s been a year since we made the decision to employ cattle as lawn mowers of our native prairie. The pluses far outweigh the negatives. The fence line is now part of the landscape. The cattle are a source of entertainment and are earning their “keep” so to speak.
Bernie
Equipoise Life 
I enjoyed this entry! Great pics Bernie 😃
LikeLike
I can’t believe that your dog AND those cows eat saskatoons! I think your mushrooms are safe to eat – the best ones we used to get grew in the corral in the summer. Just think about how commercial mushrooms are grown.
LikeLike
Neither can I but I have video proof!! I couldn’t figure out why the bushes looked kind of shredded and why the low ones seemed not to have many berries. My dogs have always eaten berries; they love any kind of berry and occasionally think they should eat the raspberries as well!
LikeLike
I have been reading Lyndon Penner’s book on Native Plants for the Short Season Garden and he mentions that having cattle on land, non-stop, will eventually get rid of all the wild flowers and plants as they will eat them before they can produce seed for the next year. Bison roamed and didn’t stay in any one area for years on end, thus giving the land time to recoup. Something to think about.
LikeLike
The rancher is very careful not to overgraze. Although I do understand what Lyndon is saying we always had crocuses out the back barn door pasture growing up and the cows were always near by. I have noted that the crocuses, buffalo beans and those little white yarrow and asters have not been touched at all. Neither have most of the Canadian Thistle but they keep the sow thistle down.
Ironically today the yearlings left — I will miss them and when they return they will have become more cautious because they will be grown up.
LikeLike