Texas Longhorn

DLeeT · May 8, 2014

I'm pushing the envelope as far as wildlife I suppose,
but thought these might be of interest. The Texas Longhorn is a direct
descendant of cattle brought to the New World by Columbus in 1493. Lee

You can tell from her ribs it was a long, hard winter,
but with the lush grass she'll soon fatten up!

robbins.photo · May 8, 2014

Lol.. love #3. Great shot Lee

BillM · May 8, 2014

I don't believe they get that skinny from a long winter. That looks more like neglect.

DLeeT · May 8, 2014

BillM said:
I don't believe they get that skinny from a long winter. That looks more like neglect.

That particular one looked especially emaciated. Could be old? Here is a shot of some of the others that look healthier, but they all were thin.

nzmacro · May 9, 2014

Yeah that one is thin Lee. We get tough winters here and down south with a lot of snow. Lets hope there is plenty of munching going on now

. Also like that third head on shot, looks great with the horns. Looks very much like NZ country in these shots, very nice.

All the best up there Lee.

Danny.

Raj_55555 · May 9, 2014

I can see why the "longhorn", lol.. Nice shots Lee.

DarkShadow · May 9, 2014

Hmm,so thats where the horns came from that I used to see mounted on the front of a cadillac coupe deville. Nice shots but poor thing,not the way I prefer to seem them,health wise.

DLeeT · May 9, 2014

I don't believe they get that skinny from a long winter. That looks more like neglect.

Dagwood56, Virgil, Raj_55555 and 1 others like this.
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I know little of cattle, but I don't think there was negligence here. That cow in the middle shot looks old and could be ill. As the first picture shows, the field in which they were pastured had plentiful grass. (I see a lot of cattle pastured in mainly fields of mud.) There was one drinking from a trough so they were being provided water.

And these are TEXAS longhorns. They will survive in semi-arid areas such as Texas with limited grazing resources. They are not diary cattle and they are not of the "fat" breed of beef cattle such as Angus. One of the reasons they are out of favor as beef cattle is because the meat is so lean and tough. As you can see from the Internet clip below, "thin is in" with Longhorns, and they can't be compared to diary and other beef breeds such as Angus or Herefords. Lee

Texas Longhorn

photo: wikipedia ORIGINATED: Texas.

USE: Beef, riding.
NOTES: Very hardy in dry climates. Lightly muscled, lean beef. Horns can extend 7 feet. Gentle disposition. Many colors. Very tough breed which puts on weight quickly.

BillM · May 9, 2014

I spend a good amount of time traveling to Texas Lee, I have never seen any longhorns in that shape. And the one in the shot you just posted looks nothing like the ones originally posted. I am not an expert but I would contact someone who is and let them decide if the proper authorities need to be contacted.

DLeeT · May 9, 2014

BillM said:
I spend a good amount of time traveling to Texas Lee, I have never seen any longhorns in that shape. And the one in the shot you just posted looks nothing like the ones originally posted. I am not an expert but I would contact someone who is and let them decide if the proper authorities need to be contacted.

Below are a couple more shots. I spent over a year in west Texas courtesy of Uncle Sam and saw many longhorns not near as healthy as those below. And I see many cattle around here pastured on land not nearly as lush as the below.

I do not know the rancher. He stopped by as I was shooting and we talked about the nice weather for about two minutes and that is my only contact with him ever. The only cow that looked unhealthy to me is the one in the middle picture that again, appears quite old to me. I just happened by these cattle driving down a country road. I may be able to find the field again if the cattle are in it. If so, I could probably get an address. Since you think there is negligence and I don't, you can research whom to contact and report it as well as I can. I can PM you the address if I can find the spot again. Please advise. Lee

paigew · May 9, 2014

Well I live in Texas. And I see longhorns every day and never in that sort of shape. When I saw that I thought "OMG Call Animal cops"! That is really shameful. If winter was that hard then feed needs to be provided. Shame

DLeeT · May 9, 2014

paigew said:
Well I live in Texas. And I see longhorns every day and never in that sort of shape. When I saw that I thought "OMG Call Animal cops"! That is really shameful. If winter was that hard then feed needs to be provided. Shame

Do you want me to try and get the address for you? Lee

paigew · May 9, 2014

DLeeT said:
paigew said:

Well I live in Texas. And I see longhorns every day and never in that sort of shape. When I saw that I thought "OMG Call Animal cops"! That is really shameful. If winter was that hard then feed needs to be provided. Shame

Click to expand...

Do you want me to try and get the address for you? Lee

No of course not. It is just sad that people allow their animals to be in that sort of state. But hey, I guess if you really think about it they ,are better off than 99.9% of cattle in the US going for slaughter. At least they are free roaming.

BillM · May 9, 2014

BOAH: Animal Neglect and Abuse and Stray Animals in Indiana

wildforever · May 9, 2014

I have to be honest..there is a farmer about 5km down the road form me who has a big herd of TLH. Living in Alberta our winters are brutal....winter only really came to and end a couple of weeks ago. For those who don't know about Albertan winters, its normal to have 2 or 3 weeks of -30 -35 (wind chill included).

I have never seen any of them looking as skinny as this....

I very much like the photos... but the look of the Longhorns are honestly...somewhat of a concern.

seeing as our winter has only just really ended (it started in October) ill go grab a shot of them after work today...give you an example how the ones here are looking after yet another horrid winter.