Seen this several times when you get temps dropping low enough to freeze stock tanks over...




Not my cow. But a common site here when the thaw starts.

Yesterday while going to the feed store, I saw a downer cow in a pasture. She had a buzzard pecking at her while still alive.

Mother nature is cruel sometimes.

Sad for sure Barry, I may have posted a picture of the redone creek crossing we had done. We lost two, or three head in mud.

"Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys."

Happens to wildlife too.

And people.

A farmer down in Tennessee lost his life this week trying to rescue a couple of calves that had gotten out on a pond and broke through the ice. He went through the ice and by the time they got him out it was too late.

Yes, it happens every year.

Worst I've seen is 30 cows went through the ice on a big pond 35-40 years ago.

It froze back up and the carcasses were there for weeks until it thawed

Knock on wood we lose more to mud than ice.

Was just reading the other day about the big herds of bison and loss to drowning. It was a huge factor in the year to year mortality. I want to say something like 10% of the herds would drown on an average year. Millions of animals.

It was a major food source for grizzlies and the reduction in herds had a big impact on the bears numbers and range.

This week in our county a big pond thawed enough that they pulled the carcasses out with an airboat and a trackhoe. 59 cows had went through the ice weeks ago. Sad!

When something like that happens it's usually a sizable I'm out. One cow walks out ice is stable, two cows walk out then three cows then for cows you get the idea until the ice is no longer Stout enough and then the whole group is gone

could we teach SOME people to do that ?

My buddy lost several a couple of weeks ago. Found 3 dead, went home to get a rope to try to drag them out, had a couple more in when he got back. He got them roped and drug out with the truck. Luckily the pond on that place isn’t very deep or the last they’d probably all drown.

Lewis and Clark had to dodge thousands of bison coming down the Missiouri in the Spring. They remarked how bad it fouled the water.