Please enjoy a random assortment of video clips from a beautiful weekend in Cle Elum at and around the sanctuary!
honey cow
Cow-uality Time
Today’s blog post is all about the cows! Cow-uality (quality) time…get it?!
The sanctuary is home to our own small herd of cattle: Betsy, Meredith, and Honey. These ladies help to fire-wise the property by “mowing” the grass in their multiple pastures which they move around to throughout the year. Right now, they are in the upper pasture, which is my favorite of their pastures. The views are lovely both in the pasture itself, and on the way there and back from the Chimp House.
The view coming back to the Chimp House from the upper pasture.
Another (informal) sanctuary resident, one of many deer, who I saw on my way to care for the cattle.
Summer time with the cows, for me, means both quality time with the cows and some quiet time outside. It can be a nice break when things are more chaotic in the Chimp House to go spend time petting Betsy (the most people-oriented of the cows) while everyone eats their grain, then brushing them (which also serves as a way to apply fly spray), before returning to the Chimp House.
Betsy
Honey
Honey
Betsy
Betsy
Betsy
Meredith (L) and Honey (R)
Meredith
Meredith
6 Years with the Cattle!
As Katelyn mentioned in yesterday’s blog, today is the 6th anniversary of the arrival of our lovely cattle! We celebrated our bovine friends with fresh cuttings of willow, a favorite browse item of the herd. We are also always trying to find new foods they may enjoy but these ladies are surprisingly picky! Today’s willow came with a side of pumpkin, to which Meredith, Honey, and Betsy said a polite, but firm, “no thank you.” Enjoy some photos of our favorite cows, and join us in celebrating 6 years with these silly, sweet, and sometimes spicy ladies. We are so lucky to know and love them!
Betsy enjoying some fresh willow branches.
A close up moment with Honey! She clearly enjoyed her hay pellets!
Honey eating willow branches.
Honey and her daughter, Meredith, enjoying willow branches together.
Meredith looking for the next willow branch to snack on. Look at those pretty curls that are coming in as she grows out her coat for winter!
We also celebrate and remember Nutmeg today, who sadly passed away this past spring after a sudden health crisis. He was a beloved member of the herd and Betsy’s son, and his gentle giant presence is missed daily.
Handsome Nutmeg
Nutmeg and Betsy
Grooming Time with the Cows
Check out today’s video to join in on a grooming session…with the cows! These lovely ladies often spend time grooming each other, and it is a wonderful moment when they invite us as their caregivers to join in. Meredith, Honey, and Betsy really love the scratching post that J.B. recently installed for them, but when there isn’t a scratching post around, a human with a brush will do just fine!
Betsy licks Caregiver Ellen
…And another one!
And one more, because Betsy is just so cute!
Betsy rests her head in Caregiver Ellen’s hand
Betsy’s tongue is incoming…
Another lick from Betsy! You can see the texture of her tongue here. Being licked by a cow feels a lot like being licked by a giant cat’s tongue!
Left to right Caregiver Ellen, Meredith, Honey, and Betsy
And last but not least, Caregiver Ellen gets a facial courtesy of Betsy Cow!
The One About the Cows
Lounging amid the grassy hills of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, you will find 3 somewhat unexpected animals, given the name of the sanctuary…our hardworking cows! These ladies help to keep the fire load in check by grazing on the grasses around the sanctuary and are valued members of our sanctuary family.
So this blog is about the cows! I was taking care of the cattle a few weeks ago and felt inspired to bring the camera along so that we could share some new photos with you all of these lovely ladies. They are a little bit of everything…sometimes spicy, sometimes sweet, and if you’re Betsy, always at least a little bit mischievous!
Betsy is a “the grass is greener on the other side” kind of gal, who has been known to use her smarts to let herself and her herd graze on grasses beyond their designated pastures by unlatching the gate and seeing themselves out. We adapted quickly, and now have more secure gates with clips that even Betsy can’t open! Our beloved Betsy is a softy too, I always give her hugs while she eats her meal and she doesn’t seem to mind one bit. She also enjoys licking us.
She is very food motivated too…just look at the face she makes when she sees her grain arrive!
Betsy
Honey is the sassiest of the three cows, often giving some intense side-eye if you look like you might be thinking about touching her. She does allow head scratches at times, which is always a special occasion! She enjoys food, with hay pellets being her favorite part of any meal. She is Meredith’s mom, and a good friend to Betsy. She is the lightest in color of the three cows, and a very pretty lady!
Honey
Meredith is right between Betsy and Honey in terms of coloring. She is light brown, but not as light as Honey. We have provided a lot of specialized care for Meredith over the past year as she has dealt with arthritis and had a procedure to provide her with some pain relief, which included a somewhat lengthy recovery time separate from her herd. She is doing well currently, still dealing with her arthritis but able to be with her herd and enjoy the different summer pastures we are able to move them between. She is a sweet lady, who enjoys being brushed and getting scratches, and gets a regular serving of applesauce with her medications which she seems to really enjoy!
Meredith
Meredith
Silly close up of a Betsy nose boop!
Betsy licks Honey
Betsy licks Meredith (there are plenty of Betsy licks to go around!)
Meredith’s Healing Update
As J.B. covered in a previous blog, Meredith started slowing down this past summer which we discovered was due to osteoarthritis. She had a procedure at WSU to correct this in her right front foot, and she has been recovering and healing from this procedure. We were happy to welcome her back home to continue her recovery after her stay at WSU in December and early January, and I wanted to provide you all with an update on her progress since returning home.
Honey checks on her daughter, Meredith
She continues to show promising signs of healing, and seems to be feeling very ready to break out of her recovery stall to rejoin her herd! She has been enjoying extra attention from her caregivers during our cattle time, complete with lots of pets and scratches. Dr. Erin has also been coming for extra check ins on Meredith and helping to care for her and the herd. While I know she is ready to fully rejoin her family, I do think she enjoys having her own personal hay feeder to snack on at her leisure and not having to hurry to finish her grain before grain-obsessed Betsy is done with hers and looking around for more snacks! She will be due for her recheck appointment soon, so we will know more about exactly how her foot is healing. We hope for continued good news!
Enjoy some pictures of the rest of the herd as well. We are all enjoying the sunshine today!
Nutmeg showing off his best side (okay, all sides are his best side) and looking a little sassy
L to R: Nutmeg, Honey, Betsy, and Meredith in the back.
Betsy and Honey, looking ready to drop their next album!
