The arrival of spring on the farm means plenty of fieldwork. But it also means livestock breaking through fences to arrive at the greenness on the other side.
I don’t have many animals left. But I will be chasing them soon if I don’t begin working on a few of my pasture fences that were propped up with some pallets, gates and twine through the winter.
We may romanticize about a home where the buffalos roam, but fences and confinement are a part of farming. And as long as we have cattle, sheep, horses, goats or any other pasturing critter we’ll be chasing them at one point or another. Sometimes it’s when they break through fences. Or it could be somewhere else.
A 1,500-pound fugitive steer that had been on the lam for almost two months, after escaping while on the way to a slaughterhouse, was finally captured recently in Rhode Island. The Associated Press said the steer escaped Feb. 4 when a wholesaler lost control of it.
The steer was seen several times in the area of Johnston, “including by a startled Uber driver — who reported seeing it during an early-morning run to pick up a passenger — as he was waiting for a traffic light to change.”
The police chief said he wanted to be sure the steer kept to wooded areas where it wouldn’t endanger drivers; he was relieved it had been captured without anyone being hurt. No word on whether the steer will now travel under beefed-up security.
Speaking of animals on the loose, Betsy the Northfield Goat of Jackson County, Wisconsin, is apparently alive and well. I wrote this past year about the Nigerian Dwarf goat that likes to hang out on the rocky ledges near the 100-mile marker of Interstate 94 by Northfield. Betsy — who is “owned” by a local farmer – has been on the loose since 2018.
Photos and sightings of Betsy are posted on Facebook – visit www.facebook.com/northfieldgoat for more information. Her adventurers are followed by more than 2,000 people. Regular travelers along I-94 occasionally post glimpses of the elusive goat.
There were no reports after October 2020 — until a few weeks ago when a page follower posted she had seen Betsy again, perched high on the rocks.
Goats have incredible agility; they can even climb trees. That combined with intelligence equivalent to dogs and their ability to revert to the wild makes the cliff a perfect hangout for Betsy — who has managed to survive three winters so far.
And speaking of goats, researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology in Germany have just released a new study that claims goats appear to be smarter than sheep. The study didn’t include guest appearances on Jeopardy, but rather investigated how well the animals were able to navigate around obstacles to reach food.
The study pointed out that sheep and goats are closely related genetically, are about the same size, have similar social structures and have been domesticated by humans for the same amount of time. The difference comes from their foraging strategies; sheep are grazers but goats are browsers who prefer buds and fresh shoots. In human terms goats would go through the salad bar first, taking the best selections and leaving the rest for the sheep.
The test was to see how both species reacted to new spatial obstacles. An animal was put into an enclosure; a person stood on the other end offering food. In between was a fence with a gap. Researchers observed whether the animals moved directly toward the gap as well as the time it took them to reach the food. The gap was changed after a few rounds.
The results of testing 28 sheep and 21 goats showed in the first round goats found the gap sooner, although sheep reached their goal faster. Both were initially puzzled by the new position of the gap and needed a few attempts to adjust.
“Goats appear to adapt better and more accurately to new situations and move with less perseveration around the obstacle when the gap has changed. This suggests that they are more cognitively flexible than sheep,” stated co-author Britta Osthaus from Canterbury Christ Church University.
I haven’t yet read the entire study, but having raised both sheep and goats — and still having three goats — I would concur that goats are less hindered by obstacles. That’s because they usually just climb or jump over them.
I hope the study was privately funded and didn’t fleece taxpayers. I could have saved them a lot of money simply by asking my goat Steve.
IN PHOTOS: Local community members wear face masks (copy)
Holmen, Wis.

Three besties caring for each other by wearing masks
Jim Falls, Wis.

My granddaughter Johana and I - Getting through COVID-19 pandemic - "We can do it!"
La Crescent, MInn.

This is my 3 year old son Julian. I like to get my kids their favorite color and/or character to make it a little more fun to wear.
Working at the Tomah VA serving our Veterans during this pandemic!

In My Family We all Wear Our Masks Cindy And Baby V

mask made by fellow West Salem High School chemistry teacher

La Crosse punk

"My band had some masks printed to add to our merchandise line-up! Zammek - La Crosse Punk"
Lace for a lady

Caring for the community

A retired state social worker and her daughter who is a public school teacher say, “wearing masks when out and about is a simple and loving thing to do for your community.”
A mask with bling

Fancy that - a mask with bling!
Dinner guests

Having dinner guests together at home. Left to right, Don Smith, Mary Rohrer, and Nancy Korn Smith. We asked our readers to show off their masks for all to see. Use a form at https://go.lacrossetribune.com/Photos and send photos our way. We’ll put them in galleries that we will share on social media, and we’ll publish some of them in our papers.
A Friendly smile

"I intended this to my likeness and a friendly everyday mask. I was disappointed when i received it. Frankly, it's ridiculous...so I'll give readers a good laugh."
October 6: GIrls WIAA Division 2 sectional golf

Aquinas’ Alexis Smith hits an approach shot at the WIAA Division 2 girls golf sectional at Drugan’s Castle Mound in Holmen.
October 2: Edgar vs Onalaska

The Onalaska dance team performs at halftime.
October 2: Edgar vs Onalaska

Masked spectators watch the game.
September 22: Aquinas vs Onalaska

JB Weiser makes a save for Aquinas.
September 17: Westby vs Aquinas

Aquinas’ Lauren Kelsey, left, and Victoria Nolte attempt a block on Westby’s Macy Stellner.
September 17: Westby vs Aquinas

Aquinas’ Victoria Nolte serves.
September 17: Westby vs Aquinas

The Westby tem celebrates a point won.
Holmen school lunches

Heather Mathwig, right, and Analise Smith with the Holmen School District Nutrition Department bag individual pizzas at Holmen Middle School.
Noodles & Company

Menche Evans cooks in the kitchen at the new Noodles & Company in Onalaska.
September 10: Dover-Eyota vs. La Crescent-Hokah

La Crescent-Hokah girls soccer head coach Jake Smith talks with player Olivia Meyer.
Onalaska Football

Onalaska head coach Tom Yashinsky runs football practice.
College during COVID

Western Technical College student Emery Thompson has his temperature taken by human resources department employee Jackie Kettner before entering the bookstore.
College during COVID

Face mask wearing students walk to and from classes on the first day of the fall semester on the UW-La Crosse campus.
Vice President Pence at Dairyland

Attendees give applause during the "A Stronger America Workforce" event at Dairyland Power Cooperative.
Vice President Pence at Dairyland

A woman in attendance for the "A Stronger America Workforce" event at Dairyland Power Cooperative with Vice President Mike Pence wears a patriotic facemask.
Scooping up smiles

Marty Diersen with the Sweet Shop hands a cone to Joy Benson, a member of Logan High School’s class of 1969, dressed as the children’s book character Raggedy Ann.
Chris Hardie and his wife, Sherry, raise animals and crops on his great-grandparents’ Jackson County farm. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2001, he’s a former member of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and past-president of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Email chardie1963@gmail.com with comments.