August 25, 1988 - Farm Animals Help to Fathom the Miracle of Birth1310
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Focus on Nature
Farm Animals Help to Fathom the Miracle of Birth
By Paul Stoutenburgh
We surely haven't had any great amount
of rain here on Long Island. Yet, just across
the Sound from us there has been a con-
tinuous line of downpours. We can vouch for
that since we've seen and heard the rumbl-
ings of thunderstorms moving eastward to
our north. Connecticut seems so far away
but in reality it is just about 15 miles across
the water. The little rain that we've been
allotted has been spotty. At one time it
traveled along the Main Road and we, down
the lane, never got a drop. We surely could
trade off some of this hot and humid
weather we've been having for a couple of
overnight rains.
Just at the time when all of the numbers
of the calendar fell in line - 8/8/88 —the day,
month and the year all agreed, our cow
decided to give birth to a baby calf. We had
had it inseminated twice and waited but
finally had given up in desperation at
almost a month past the given date. Yet she
was big and her bag was getting full. We
even thought it might be the crazy weather
we were having and perhaps she was
waiting for a better time. When you come to
think of it, I guess things just don't work
that way, though there is the armadillo
we've been reading about that can suspend
development of its embryo and delay birth
for up to two years. With stories like that,
you can see why we sort of figured the cow
had delayed birth because of the heat but
now we've been told that there was an error
in calculating and that she dropped her calf
on time.
Missing Cow
What made us concerned was that when
we returned after being away from the
house for a while we could only find one cow
in the pasture. This was unusual, for the two
of them usually grazed side by side and
besides they often wait for us at the fence
when the car comes in thinking we might
bring them leftovers from the neighboring
farmstand. I started to look for her.
We have a pond down in the hollow and
with this dry weather the water level is way
below normal and the sides are muddy and
soft. My concern was that perhaps she'd
wandered in and gotten stuck. But, no, she
wasn't there. I kept looking.
A visual search of both pastures showed
nothing. Then as I walked by a low spot on
the far side of the pond hidden by some
bushes, there she was —lying down and
right behind her was the shiniest big -boned
little calf you ever saw. She still had a veil
over her which meant she must just have
been born minutes before I came upon
them.
I squatted nearby and watched. The
mother had picked a cool spot in the shade.
She slowly got to her feet, a bit messy, and
walked over to sniff her newborn. Then im-
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THE SOUTHAMPTON PRESS / AUGUST 25, 1988
mediately she started to clean her up, veil
and all. Everything was assimilated and
soon the little one was bright and clean.
We've been told that any of the excess after-
birth, etc. is cleaned up by the mother so
that nothing remains to attract a predator.
That makes sense in the natural world, for
anything that was left about would even-
tually create an odor and attract who knows
what.
Audience Called
Of course I had to call Barbara down and
she in turn called our daughter and the kids
and then the people next door came over.
All were elated to see the new arrival. We
had a gallery of people all looking at the
miracle that had just taken place and
reserved only for fathers.
Feed Now for Winter Ahead
Most animals and birds by this time of the
year have had their offspring. From now on
learning takes place and the building of
strong bones and reserves of fat are ac-
quired from nature's summer bounty.
Birds gorge themselves with insects and
fruit of all sorts, for most will journey south
for the winter and their migration flight will
take a lot out of them. The animals will stay
but they must build themselves up for the
long winter ahead when food supplies will
be low. Nature plays a hard game of sur-
vival for those who fail to learn and prepare
for the future. Some will pay dearly —the
others will survive.
Nature plays a hard game of survival
for those who fail to learn and prepare ...
others continued to arrive as they returned
from work.
No matter how often we talk about births
of any kind, there's nothing that rocks us
more and tells the story of wonder better
than being right there at a birth. Robby,
now almost eight, was full of questions
which were answered frankly and truthful-
ly, none of which seemed to bother him a
bit. After all, what better education could
he have than what was taking place right
before us?
The little heifer was lying down and still
pretty weak so we left her with the mother
still mooing softly over her and licking
away to make sure she was perfectly clean.
We would leave them to their wonder and
come back later.
About two hours later Robby came charg-
ing up from the pasture to tell us the latest
events. The little calf was up and nursing.
Well, of course, the troops were all called
out again and we had to go down to see that
operation. The calf was a spitting image of
its mother and knew just where to go for
dinner. The mother stood proudly as the lit-
tle head butted and the calf suckled just as
calves have since time began. After a short
bit, the legs of the little calf seemed to
buckle and fold under and she laid down to
rest. After all, she'd been through quite an
adventure. Again the soft mooing, sniffing
and licking took place. I think we all walked
away a bit prouder, each with an air usually
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It's now that the baby birds will have to
learn what to trust and what not to trust
along the way. A cat or fox might snatch a
fledgling that doesn't pay attention to its
mother's alarm call. Once the lessons have
been taught, many are on their own and the
parents will never see them again. Others,
like geese and ducks, stick together for a
good part of the year, but then eventually
all must strike out on their own.
August is the time for ripening for the
climax of growth. We were starting a little
late with our calf but since we can supple-
ment the winter food, our calf will be all
right. We were all grateful for the oppor-
tunity to renew our faith in the miracle of
life. We need that, particularly in today's
precarious world of environmental
degradation.
Chamber Orchestra
To Return to Church
The American Chamber Orchestra will re-
turn to the East End on the weekends of Au-
gust 27 and 28 and September 3 and 4 for its
sixth season of concerts at St. Luke's Epi-
scopal Church in East Hampton.
Considered one of the finest chamber or-
chestras in the United States, the American
Chamber Orchestra draws its musicians
from a wide range of musical ensembles such
as the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago
Symphony, the New York City Opera and the
Da Capo Chamber Players. Founded in 1981,
the ACO has commissioned works from five
American composers and given six world
premieres. The ensemble made its Carne-
gie Hall debut in 1983 and was well received.
The ensemble's director is Charles Barker;
associate director is violinist Eric Wyrick.
Tickets to the ensemble concerts are $12.
A weekend pass for two concerts is available
for $22, or a festival pass for all four concerts
may be purchased for $40 by calling 329 -0990
in advance; it also will be available at the
door one hour before the performance on Sat-
urday, August 27.
EAS
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