By Tyler Trieglaff

Notes from the Chief

Call me the cow whisper. 

Last Friday, we brought home some cattle from across the lake by walking them through the neighbors’ land. The trick to rounding up the herd in that pasture is that we have to trick the cows to come into a corral then let them out the main gate.  

A few ornery mamas and spooky calves did not make the corral gate and were hell bent on not going home. Once they get spooked it makes it harder to round them up; one has to resort to bribery and trickery.  

The cows and calves that made it out the main gate found their way home to greener pastures.  The ones left behind we tried several times to round them up, but they always seemed to smell a rat. The next morning, I got a phone call from a friend telling me that we had a cow on the highway.  

Dad and I hightailed it to find Bessy and figure out where she needed to go. I figured she was separated from her calf and was trying to find it. We gently herded mama back to the original pasture and there was her calf ready to go to town on mama’s milk. I could tell that she was missing her calf as I was riding next to her on the Ranger. As she was trotting through an alfalfa field, I could see that she was kicking up dew from the plants and getting wet.  

As I continued to herd her along, I realized that if she wasn’t with her calf, that she was likely full of milk. Yep… With every jaunt she made her udder was swinging freely back and forth and excreting squirts of milk all over the place. This cow is over 11 years old and the ol’ sphincter muscles in the end of her teats may not be as taut as they once were. We got ol’ Z8 back with the herd and her calf.  

Fast forward a couple days and we were going to try to catch them again, this time by hiding in the stock trailer and shutting the gates to the corral after they went in. A few cows made it to the oats dad had spread on the ground, but a couple wily critters must have smelled me and the boy as we were hiding in the trailer. Again, they got spooked and were gone like Keyser Söze.

Well, fourth time’s the charm as I went over on Tuesday and was able to lure and capture the 6 pairs all by myself. After I had them locked in the corral, I needed to make a loading chute with the cattle panels as they were munching away on some fresh corn silage. I backed the trailer up, made a lane and loaded them in the trailer like nobody’s business. We still have 10 pairs and a bull in one pasture which are coming home soon and 15 pairs and a bull in another pasture. The second group will hopefully get to stay a bit longer as we have the opportunity to put up some fence on two pieces of ground that the landowner would like grazed since it was not cut for hay. Now that it has cooled down a bit, it may be the perfect time to do a little fencing.  

Friday, Sept. 1

10:27 a.m. Assist with a medical.

10:56 a.m. Assist with a medical.

12:01 p.m. Officer talked with the party about vehicle being parked in the front yard.

12:14 p.m. Officer talked with an adult about basketball hoop in the street.

2:08 p.m. Stray dog taken to Lucky Dog.

3:57 p.m. Officer talked with a juvenile about crossing at the RR crossing and trespassing on railroad property.

5:31 p.m. 911 hang-up on Maple Ave. Unable to locate.

7:33 p.m. Assist with a medical.

6:14 p.m. Assist with a motorcycle crash on Co Hwy 29.

7:50 p.m. Report of a domestic incident between husband and wife.

Saturday, Sept. 2

10:13 p.m. Assist with a fire on Pleasant View Rd.

Sunday, Sept. 3

4:01 p.m. Assist with a medical.

7:44 p.m. Report of a disturbance between roommates. Intoxicated male wanted the female removed from the apartment. Female has established residency at the apartment and would need to be evicted through the court process.

8:43 p.m. Debit card that was found on the street turned over to officer.

Tuesday, Sept. 5

7:45 a.m. Chief Tyler was at Frazee Elementary School to welcome students to the new school year.

1:39 p.m. Assist with a medical.

2:40 p.m. Report of a driving complaint on US Hwy 10. Unable to locate.

3:12 p.m. Officer found two dogs running loose. Officer caught one dog and brought it to its home and the other followed.

6:06 p.m. Officer left with resident about a trailer parked in the front yard and other public nuisance violations.

6:23 p.m. Officer talked with the homeowner about mowing their lawn.

6:30 p.m. Officer talked with the homeowner about mowing their lawn.

7:55 p.m. Traffic complaint on US Hwy 10 with a semi dragging a tarp. Unable to locate.

Wednesday, Sept. 6

7:45 a.m. Chief Tyler was again at the elementary school welcoming a different group of kids to school.

8:58 a.m. Female driver parked the wrong way in the drop off area in front of the high school.  Officer stopped the vehicle for a friendly reminder and felt the wrath of a woman scorned as her student was late for school.

6:23 p.m. Vehicle unlock on Chilton Rd.

8:27 p.m. Assist with a medical.

9:53 p.m. Assist with a single motor vehicle crash on St Hwy 87.

11:13 p.m. Traffic complaint on Lake St S. Unable to locate.

11:33 p.m. Report of shots fired on Lake St So. JaMichael Boykin, 22, Arlington AL, arrested for felony reckless discharge of a firearm.

Thursday, Sept. 7

7:47 a.m. Female reporting a suspicious vehicle in her driveway in a trailer park. Vehicle owner was contacted and the owner’s son had driven the vehicle and left it there. Owner was going to make arrangements to get vehicle moved. 

12:27 p.m. Traffic complaint on St Hwy 87. Frazee officer made contact with the vehicle and did not find any signs of impairment. Large black dog in the front passenger seat was maybe being a backseat driver.

2:42 p.m. Assist with a medical.

4:13 p.m. Officer saw a dog tearing into the garbage that was set on the curb. Officer woke up the homeowner and had her pick up the mess Fido had made.

6 p.m. Report of a dog that had made a mess of the neighbors garbage. Officer called dog’s owner and asked him to kindly pick up the trash which he said he would.

7:32 p.m. Resident reporting suspicious activity at her home. Things were moved and lights were on that she did not leave on. Nothing missing or damaged.

8:09 p.m. Resident reporting a male came into their driveway and walked away as they let the dogs out.