Escaped Cows Graze Hidden Hollows' Meadows!

It was 11:00 p.m. on Friday night, October 19, when using Google on my iPhone, we finally found the owners of the 18 Black Angus cows that were grazing in our meadow. The grateful Herriotts met up with us and Saturday morning and walked their cows three miles back down Fox Hollow Rd. to their ranch, situated on both sides of the South Branch of the Potomac River, where they manage 60 head of Black Angus. I showed Chip Herriot and sister Missy the damage from their cows - pond berm banks caved in at several locations, 8 solar lights trampled, cow pies and hoof dents everywhere...and worst of all, a 1,200 round bale of hay pushed by the cows into our dry seasonal steam just days before hurricane Sandy!

Friday night, I had also called Shannon Peer, a local neighbor and permanent resident at Hidden Hollows for assistance with removing the bale of hay from the creek. I told him we were concerned about it blocking the rush of storm water, potentially flooding our mini-barn cabin. Shannon and his nephew showed up Saturday Morning, before the Herriotts had arrived, and were somehow able to muscle the bale of hay up the steep bank and out of the creek. Whew!

Chip was extremely apologetic for the invasion of his cattle, and offered to compensate us for any damage. Instead of setting a price for the two days of work repairing the damage, I told Chip that I would like to have a rain check to call upon him when we have a more critical need for assistance, such as snowstorm, downed tree, or something that required heavy equipment work. Chip agreed to this arrangement, saying that anytime he would be glad to help and if he couldn't get it done, he knows folks who can. Missy was very impressed with our cordial response to the situation. We're just glad there wasn't more damage and that no one was hurt, including the cows. And now, we have some new West Virginia friends!

UPDATE: The cows escaped the Herriott's farm two more times after this video was recorded, and they pushed the bale of hay back into our seasonal stream, this time with water flowing from the three inches of rain dumped by hurricane Sandy. Saturday, November 3rd, Chip and a friend returned to our property to inspect the additional damage from his cows. Chip again offered to pay for repairs or to do the work himself. I told him that my biggest concern was removing the bale of hay from the creek again without using heavy equipment. Chip and his friend somehow managed to push the extremely heavy water-soaked bale of hay out of the stream by hand. Later, we repositioned the bale with our ATV so that a tree blocked it from an easy roll back into the creek. Chip said that he finally located the breach in his fence where the cows where escaping - a large tree had fallen across the fence line. He made the repairs and we have not seen his cows since.

Видео Escaped Cows Graze Hidden Hollows' Meadows! канала Randall Wingett