Here are my farmer friends pride and joy - a pair of Brown Swiss oxen.They too were enjoying the nice warm weather yesterday. Here they are feeding on a 200lb roll of hay that was recently put out for the cattle.Now, this first picture doesn't really show you just how big these animals are. These dudes weigh approximately 2200+ a piece - YES, a piece! They're so big that they've outgrown their yoke quite some time ago. In fact, a yoke to fit these monsters today would be too heavy for one person to lift and get in place. That being said my friend uses rope (instead of a yoke) so he can continue to work with the animals and keep them familiar with their position and reminded of the commands used to work them.
Now, here is a picture of my farmer friend, who is 6' tall, standing at the back-end of the younger oxen. Amazing right?! The circumference of his legs are also impressive. And they still have plenty of growing to do too.
This is a picture of the skull of a Brown Swiss ox or steer. This dude came from my farmer friend. It's hanging on the fencing of my old chicken pen at my dads. Time is going by so fast these days that I can't remember just how long I've had this hanging there but it's been quite some time.
I do remember when this dude was alive and a part of an oxen team that my friend would use on his property. Actually, my first experiencing at 'driving' an oxen team was with this dude and his yoke mate. They were named ZZ and Top and once again I can't recall which one this is? Can you guess who they were named after?!?! I'll give you a clue, a band from the 60's...
If I remember correctly, this guy died as a result of ingesting something metal. Typically, bovine have magnets placed in their stomach, their first stomach, to prevent this type of problem and subsequent death from occurring. Metal objects stick to the magnet, which prevent them from getting stuck when attempting to pass into their second stomach. But I digress...
The reason I began this rambling was to point out that a pair of House Wrens have taken up residence inside this skull. This is why the picture was taken from the back. Unfortunately you can't see the nest from this picture or when standing directly behind the skull and looking in but they fly in the center hole and drop down into their nest. Interesting location for a nest, as well as an example of how things can be recycled even when you think there uses have passed.
