A few weeks ago, I noticed a number of blue buckets had appeared in the local cattle pastures. At the time, the pastures were exceedingly dry and I thought the buckets contained feed. Then I noticed the cows weren’t eating out of the buckets but were licking the contents, so I figured they must be salt licks. Except these days, salt licks are too old-school. These are, according to the company’s website, ‘quality low moisture cooked molasses supplement tubs made from the best all-natural ingredients.’ They make a variety of tubs for different animals and different purposes.

I’d been intending to take a photo of the buckets, but they were either not being used or conditions were poor. Then one afternoon, a few days ago, I saw the two cows in the top photo amicably sharing. I stopped to take a photo. A few moments later, the black cow jogged over to join in. One cow didn’t seem too bothered, but the other was having none of it. She pushed her dining partner out of the way and got in the face of the black cow. A couple of head-butts later the black cow backed off. The upset cow returned to the bucket as her dining partner wandered off, while the black cow got in line, waiting for her turn.

I wondered about hitting the Vitalix company up for sponsorship, for prominently featuring their product and company name in this post. But I figured that if they responded, at best I’d be the recipient of one of their products, and the list doesn’t include a red wine and dark chocolate bucket.