This has definitely been a week of wildlife action as I have seen lots of different critters getting around. The most exciting though was definitely the bear! I was driving down the driveway at about seven and was looking for some bulls that had been dropped off earlier in the day. I saw something black and thought to myself that's a funny looking bull and all of a sudden it dawned on me…it was a BEAR. It was about 100m from me and in some grass so I didn't really get a good look but it was pretty cool to see. Not sure how big it was but I don't think it was as big as any of the Black Bears Pa has got. Anyway I'm pretty sure it's the same one the old couple saw because it was near the same clump of trees and only about 500m from the house!! The funny thing is Perry sent me around that paddock to check the fence earlier in the day…lucky I didn't come across him in close quarters I think.

I have also seen lot's more coyotes this week (not sure why), white tailed deer, plenty of gophers and also a badger which was another first. I am assuming all these animals are starting to get around more as the days get warmer and the rain/snow goes away. It is crazy how long the days are getting with the sun up by 4:30 and not setting until after 9. Things are also starting to heat up and it can be quite warm in the middle of the day, which I am definitely not used to anymore!!

As I predicted we have been busy with brandings and trucking cattle this week. We have done quite a few at Wood's (which is Perry's mate who has the 5000 breeders) as well as at other smaller places in the area. I have had a go at pretty much all the jobs at branding now and I would have to say that I prefer being on the head-catcher or wrestling (which is when you hold the calf while it is branded/needled etc.). They do this when there is enough people because it makes the roping quicker since the horse doesn't have to hold the calf.

All the old cowboys keep asking me when I am going to have a go at roping so I have been practicing swinging a rope on a horse and am hoping to work my way up to actually roping a calf…eventually that is. It is a little intimidating to get on a horse in front of all those people and have a go but I will definitely do it before I leave. None of them can believe that we don't rope to brand our calves and they keep saying how they are going to come to Australia and show us how it's done. I have told them if they do that they will have to bring their horses and saddles with them as well!!!

I have had heaps of fun at the brandings as they are a rather social occasion, with beer and food provided. The only thing is it is quite tiring because you are running around all day from one calf to the next then by the time you have supper and everything you aren't home until 9:30. But you still have to unload/unsaddle the horses then be up early the next day to check the cows and pray that nothing has gone bad the night before.

One good thing is that the heifers have settled down a bit with hardly any calves been born. Perry and I did have another late-night rendezvous to pull a calf, but I was in bed by 11 so it wasn't too late really!! Oh yeah and that reminds me…Perry and I also nutted a cat at one of the brandings. We were sitting around after supper and Jason was talking about how he wanted to cut his cat. So someone grabbed it and they were going to put it in a boot but I showed them how to hold it and Perry (who had probably had a few too many rums) told me to bring it over to him. I think everyone was a little shocked when he actually cut it but they all thought it was hilarious because he almost got sprayed with cat pee. Anyway there is now one less Tom cat at the Foth's so I suppose that is a good thing!! And I should probably thank Boosie for showing me how to hold a cat while it is castrated.

Other than that we have also trucked out about 300 pairs this week, which takes a lot of pressure off Perry because there are less mouths to feed. One downside for me though is that I have had to clean out the truck. Let's just say I now know why truckies prefer to truck empty cattle. The manure in the bottom deck was about 6 inches deep (no joke) and it took Warren and I about 2 hours to clean it all out.

The trucks are a weird shape and are kinda hard to explain but they fit about 48 cows and 30 calves on them (depending on the setup of the pens). On Perry's trailer there is a deck at the front, two decks in the middle and a deck at the back with a smaller one above it. 6 cows go right at the front, 16 in the middle on top and 16 in the middle on the bottom. Then 10 cows at the back with the calves in a half deck above them….if that makes any sense!! Apparently they can't be as tall as our trailers because they might tip over and there are also a lot of the bridges that aren't tall enough for them to go under.

So I am a little late with my Blog for the week simply because I haven't had any time at all to sit down and get it done. I am starting to get a little tired from all the late nights at brandings and early mornings loading trucks so am looking forward to my next day off (not sure when that will be). Will have to go to town (Moosomin) and get me a cowboy hat to keep all this Canadian sunshine off my face.