Cows are rounded up for milking on one of the Big Island’s two remaining dairy farms. These days most cowboys, called paniolos in Hawaii, do their work on four-wheelers, though horses are still sometimes used.
Tag Archives: Cattle
New moo
This calf is probably half-an-hour old. Mom was busy cleaning him while he got some nourishment. Then he decided to try out his very wobbly legs while mom followed, still cleaning.
Newborn calves look like they’ve stepped out of a laundry detergent commercial – crisp and clean, and brighter than bright.
Cattle and pu’u
Cattle graze on dry grassland near Waimea. A pu’u is a hill or cinder cone in Hawaiian.
Cow shower
One warm afternoon I came across this scene. This pasture is one of several irrigated by water from the Kohala Ditch. The irrigation nozzles throw a fine spray over a considerable distance, but when the flow is turned off, the water in the pipes continues to drain down the hill before exiting in a gentle arc through the lower nozzles.
I’ve seen cows use the spray from these nozzles as water fountains. This one has figured out that such a flow makes for a nice, cooling shower on a warm afternoon. She stood there for several minutes, letting the water splash against her, before ambling off into the field.
For more information about the Kohala Ditch, go to fluminkohala.com/the-kohala-ditch.
Cattle egrets
Cattle egrets are a common sight, particularly in rural areas. The name comes from their tendency to spend a good deal of time with cattle and other large mammals. Not only do they feed on insects and other small creatures disturbed by the cattle, but they also eat ticks and flies on the cattle themselves.
They’re not tied to cattle though. I’ve seen them trailing people mowing lawns for the same reason. That’s to snap up the insects disturbed by the activity, not peck for ticks on the person driving the mower.
When I see them in a field, by themselves, such as in the photo below, I always imagine them saying something along the lines of, ‘Hey, where did the cattle go?’
Kohala pastoral
A lot of North Kohala is agricultural land. The drive along the mountain road from Hawi to Waimea passes through ranch land, lush and green on the mountain side of the road becoming dry and browner as it slopes towards the ocean. This is cattle country with a good number of horses for the paniolos (cowboys) who tend them – though it has to be said that these days much of the paniolo’s work is carried out on ATVs.
This view is from just off the mountain road looking down toward the ocean.
