The week began with quite a full on introduction to roping. A couple of weaners managed to escape the adgistment paddock they were in, then make their way about 10 km south crossing the 4-lane TransCanada highway on their journey. So off I went with Perry, Bert, Looney and the gooseneck to capture these rogue cattle. Before setting off I asked Perry what the chances were of us actually roping these cattle and getting them on the gooseneck. He just laughed at me and shook his head so I assumed our chances were pretty high!!

So off we go to find the weaners and this is not an easy thing to do. This is ultimately due to the fact that many years ago the area was cut up into 'sections' a mile by a mile and these sections were then divided into quarters that made up one farm. So there is pretty much a road every mile and they either go straight north/south or straight west/east. Anyway we're driving along trying to figure out where they were last spotted and happen to see two black weaners sitting in the table drain. So we pull up, take out Bert and Looney then jump on and get all cowboy on these weaners….well Perry did at least. It was pretty interesting to see watch him galloping flat after the weaners and rope them. The first one he got around one front leg and it was then mine and Looney's job to hold him while Perry got the other and roped him to a tree.

It is quite a daunting thing to sit in your saddle with a 350kg steer hanging off the end of a rope dallied around your horn. He was a little upset and kept charging us, which Looney did not appreciate. There was rope and rein going everywhere but I managed to keep a hold of him whilst Perry got the gooseneck down to where we were. It was then a matter of roping him again around the neck then pretty much dragging him onto the gooseneck with the horses. We then had to repeat the process with the second weaner. Needless to say this was quite an intense, yet effective way of recapturing escapee cattle and I have an added respect for the work the horses in Canada achieve.

Another first for the week was a branding. Perry has a mate in the area that has the biggest breeder herd in Saskatchewan with about 5000 cows. The way it goes around here is that you help each other out at branding time so off we went to Kevin's for an afternoon of branding. We got there at about 1:30 and the calves were already drafted off the cows so we got stuck into it straight away. There were 4 guys on horses roping and they did quite a good job I think!! Before I went there I thought they would rope them on the run to get it around their feet but what they do is they just ride up to the calf then trow a loop on the ground around their feet and get the calf to step into it.

Obviously it isn't as easy as that and they aren't always successful, but they do a pretty good job I think. Anyway once the rope is around their back feet, they quickly dally the rope around their horn and drag the calf through the gate (where they are drenched) then onto the head catcher attached to the ground. There is a guy there to slip it over their head and then they are given three different injections (not sure what for but will have to find out), branded and cut if necessary. I was on needling duty and when you needle you mark the calf with a particular colour so that they know if it has been done. Once finished they are let go and the process starts again.

We branded about 240 by 4pm which was pretty good time I thought. Although considering there were 4 people roping and 14 on the ground it isn't really surprising I suppose. I thought there were a little too many people there and when I told Perry that he agreed and said he would have to talk to Kevin about it. He also said that there weren't enough calves and it should have been a bigger mob. Anyway it was good fun and I look forward to the next few thousand calves that need branding!!

So other than that Chris and Perry have still been busy with farm work and I have been looking after the cows. Things have slowed down quite a bit though and there aren't nearly as many calves being born. This means I am only doing about 50km a day on the quad opposed to the usual 100km. I have spent quite a bit of time this week pairing out in the cows I check. This has also made my job a lot easier because there are a lot less calves running around in my paddocks!!

Also it's official…the bears are awake and roaming the country side. My first experience with a bear happened on Tuesday and was quite confronting. I was closing a gate out of one of the paddocks when I looked up and came face to face with the biggest, angriest bear I have ever seen…..jokes!!! There was a car there and an old couple had pulled up to tell me they had just seen a bear about 10km down the road. Perry thinks there is a den in the bush where they saw it because there had apparently been a bear hanging around there for a while now. Nice to know considering it's about 1km from the house!!!

Anyway I have had my first day off today and that has been rather nice. Slept in until 8am and have just been relaxing around the house. Am hoping to get into town later today to do some shopping and have a look around. A rather extended blog entry this week…hope I haven't bored anyone too much. Hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather!!!