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.