Continuing on....Outdoor Wednesday

Continuing on.... #2 in the Outdoor Wednesday meme. ( I wonder if I'll get in trouble for posting two times in the same meme?)

Cattle.   I think if you are in the cattle/beef business, you say cattle.  If you are just an average joe, you say cows. (of course a cow is female and a bull is male)
Maybe cattle is plural for all and cow'S' is plural for the females?
Maybe someone can help me settle this?

We do have "Open Range laws" in the state of Nevada.  Open Range is so very complicated---and the subject of much debate.  Especially since Nevada is 85% public land (Federal land)

Nevada is one of many western states that are primarily comprised of "open range" land. The open range designation means that cattle, horses, sheep and other livestock are free to roam and feed over any property that is not fenced. Nevada, and other open range states, legislate "fence-out" laws that essentially say: if you don't want other people's livestock coming on your property, then it is your responsibility to fence your land adequately to prevent ingress. Your fencing also prevents egress for your livestock.

You have to be very careful driving in the state---the rural parts, anyway, which consists of everywhere but Reno and Las Vegas ---- because cattle can just be there crossing the roadway at any time.

As the official definition indicates, open range has no fences bordering the roadway.  Cattle and other animals are free to wander where they will.  If this sounds dangerous, it is!  The Nevada Department of Transportation indicates that between 1998 and 2002, there were more than 200 accidents each year on Nevada roads because of cattle in the roadway.  Sometime there is a sign indicating you are in an open range area, but not always.Night driving in the open range areas of Nevada can be an extra challenge, since, besides the reduced visibility, cattle often head to the roads at night to soak up the heat retained by the asphalt. It may come as a surprise to drivers in Nevada that if you do happen to hit a cow or other domestic animal on open range, it may be your fault and you may be held financially responsible for the injury or death of the animal. 

In fact, here are a few pictures we took in April when we were up around Denio, Nevada, taken from the car as we drove by...

not a cow, but a stream  You can never pass up water in the desert, so.... a photo op!

Notice the  window?  The car window is halfway down.  It really filters it and makes the desert look a lot greener than it is.

Cows--Outdoor Wednesday

A couple of weeks ago,  while driving up north, we came across a cattle drive.

Yes, there are still Cattle Drives or Round Up's going on in Ranch's across the United States today!

In Nevada,(and other Western States) there is open range, where cattle roam freely regardless of land ownership (that's why you have to have a 'brand').

I know I could be opening up a fierce controversy here  (branding, free range, etc)  and that's not what I meant to do---only to show some photos of a cattle drive we came upon!

maybe I should watch this movie?

Woo Hoo!

I mean  YAHOO! 

YEE HAW!

It looks like these guys are on their way to Upper Cow Creek!

I am linking up to Outdoor Wednesday.

Stop by and check out  other great outdoor photos.

***later, I am going to write more about cattle in the west.

Why?

I'm just weird, I guess.

Even tho I am a city girl  --- granted, it's a small rural city/town -- it's not the country--  but country/cowboy life intrigues me.

Cattle Auction

Yesterday I posted a couple of pics from the  Livestock auction... my friend  Shelly said it is like QVC for cattle.   And she works there at the convention center, so she knows.  It's EXACTLY like that.

I was a bit disappointed because they were not having a raffle for  "sperm" this year.  Or if they did, I missed it.   It's high quality sperm.
I don't mean the cowboys....I mean the  bulls.   (I'm feeling like a rebel--a bit naughty talking about  sperm. It's not your everyday blog conversation, is it?)

You didn't think they let these cattle do 'it' naturally, did you?  Pfffttt!!!   No such thing.  (well, I guess if there is a will there is a way, but...)  if you want really high quality stock, artificial insemination is the way you go.

But enough of that  (I had really wanted to take a picture of the sperm raffle tho, since I didn't get it last year)  this weekend, we are trending out of cattle auctions into   Fifties Fever!  A car show and fun filled 50's style weekend around town.

For now tho... a few pics of  hats.   I don't know if this happens anywhere else, but  cowboys here wear different hats and I want to know why.  I should have just asked someone last night....but the mystery and intrigue is more fun than knowing I guess.

(I'm just kidding about mystery and intrigue---maybe it's just a style thing)
I found this in  cowboy hat etiquette:
"Do not interfere with anyone else's cowboy hat. A hat is a prized, personal possession, and should be treated with respect."

I don't know if you can see this very well, but it's a regular style of cowboy hat. He was showing the kids how to use a lasso.

Let me see if I took a better picture of a regular cowboy hat.... a bunch of them!
Starting to wait in line for supper.

And then you see the 'flat top'  kind of cowboy hats.  I've heard this described as a "buckaroo" hat.  They use that word, Buckaroo, a lot around here.  In fact, the Buckaroo Hall of  Fame is in the building my office is.
I don't really understand the difference between a buckaroo and a cowboy, but THEY DO, and that's the important thing.  I guess.
I think this might have been the first cowboy hat, and the creases in cowboy hats came later.

Pay no attention to our friend Nate in the fuzzy visor hat in the background.  That's not his real hair--he doesn't have much. 

Then, once in a while, you'll see a cowboy in a tall hat like this one.  I guess that's a  Ten Gallon Hat. 
It's still interesting to me to see who wears what.

They grilled 1200 steaks.

And made lots and lots of salads, beans, bars.

It was our job to let the crowd in. All 1200 of them, 

according to when and how many steaks were coming off the grill.

The cooks told us to let 20 people in every 5 minutes.

We synchronized out watches.

(Okay, I took pictures, but I made sure all the door keepers, the Handyman included, synchronized their watches)  

(notice that none of our door keepers are wearing  any cowboy hats nor cowgirl bling--we are boring---and not really cowboys)

And then, we just had fun.

People ate and later danced.

This band was from Louisiana--the bomb!  

Shelly got locked outside with all the cowboys!

Jolina had to fight her way in!

It was very fun.

At the end of the evening...

we were very tired.

Time for a cattle auction

Every year, at our Convention Center  (I have a little office in the East Hall of said Convention Center) there is a big conference--Superior Livestock Auction.  This is a huge, huge cattle auction--done completely on video.  Millions of cattle are bought and sold and we don't see one live cow.
It intrigues me for some reason.

Tonight I will help with the huge HUGE bbq and later, the concert.  
I stand at the door and when they tell me how many steaks are done, I let that many people in.  It's fun.

For now, I just wanted to share a few pics....

setting up for the concert

Buying and selling

the screens show video of cattle--all day long. Today was local cattle ranchers selling. It's a week long auction and the ranchers come from all over the west.

It's fun to hear the auctioneers lingo.

Notice that some of the ranchers have  computers on their tables...and phones are out all the time.

It's a different cattle world than when my granddad was running a ranch in Oregon.

Outdoor Wednesday

Barbed Wire.
It was the reason for range wars in the west at one time.
It was used in WWI   (put before trenches to prevent movement.  No man's land)
It was used in WWII Concentration Camps.
It's used around prisons--at the top of the chain link fence--to prevent breakouts.

MAN!  Barbed Wire is kind of a depressing thing to have taken pictures of.   But we were out one day for a drive in the country and I kept seeing these rolls of  barbed wire left on the end of fences and it intrigued me.

I do not know why they leave them there.

Look at how that barbed wire has cut into the fence post.

I'm going to link this to A Southern Daydreamer's Outdoor Wednesday.