This Way To My Blog

This Way To My Blog

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Pear Ball

This is the pear ball I wrote about several weeks ago but didn't have a picture of it. This ball was found amid the bones from an old cow who died and we thought she was just old and didn't have any teeth with which to grind her food. This is the first one I have seen although I have heard about them. An old cow who doesn't have teeth any longer eats probably raw pear and then other things such as hay and it keeps wrapping and wrapping around until it becomes a hard ball in her stomach and she can't digest anything. John doesn't usaully keep a cow around when he notices she no longer has teeth but this one was skipped over somehow. Prickly pear is just one of the things ranchers deal with in south Texas. In a way it is good to have it as food when the grass is gone but work to burn the stickers off and the propane cost to burn with cost money. John is still burning every other day  and probably will until spring has sprung and the grass is growing.

9 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

must have been a terrible way to die...

Jill said...

That poor cow!

So glad I can read you and comment again!

Kath said...

Oh how sad Paula,can you imagine having something as large as that in your stomach.Poor thing.I hope John can continue to burn and able to get help with the job.Thankyou for showing the pic.Have a great Wednesday Paula.Love the new header,but scary to me LOL!!Take Care God Bless Kath xx

Lucy said...

You, such an animal lover . It must have been hard for that poor animal. I think we are all looking forward to spring.

DD said...

I remember the entry, cow with the pear ball. What a terrible thing!

I will be glad when Spring has sprung. :)

TARYTERRE said...

This is very interesting. Very sad too.

jack69 said...

Thanks for completing the entry. Amazing how this can be determined. But I would bet on the statement of the experienced.
Yes, it must be terrible for the cow.
Life on the Ranch is bitter I guess at times.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

We have prickly pears here in the Ozarks too but I can say I've never seen a pear ball before.

Intersting!

Have a fantastically blessed day sweetie!!!

Unknown said...

Sad, but I guess it's a fact of life in the cattle business.