Taking the Bull by the Balls...I Mean Horns

So today was pretty interesting....but I'll recap yesterday for you real quick first. First, Eileen, Mike, and I weighed the heifers again. This round went a lot smoother than the morning before. Then Eileen and I got to take down "Safe Fence" for the rest of the day which involved rolling up all the ropes on the fences and taking off all the insulators. Who knew insulators make a great home for spiders? On the plus side, I got to use my pocket knife for the first time to cut down some of the ropes that had a dead, felled tree lying on them. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and my arms were covered in scratches. But I have to foolishly admit that the worst of my pains have come from hitting my head on the corner of the bathroom cabinet and the roof of the pickup....twice. My dad is right, I do need a helmet.

Anyways, so going along with the title of this post, today we helped collect semen samples and check the reproductive organs of 28 bulls for one of the research projects. I know what you are probably thinking....and no, I was not arm's deep in a bull's behind. However, I did get to watch, prepare vaccinations, pour-on, ear tags, and shuttle semen samples to the lab. I also got to help prod the massive bulls into the chute so they could be probed, collected, and poked. These guys were sooo stubborn. It took 5 hours to work the first 18 bulls and 2.5 hours to do the last ten bulls.
Some of these bulls were so big that they looked more like hungry, hungry hippos. They sounded like it too! As they were waiting in their pens and entering the chute, they would bellow and make such deep, guttural noises. You would have thought we were working elephants from the sounds that came from these 2,000+ pound beasts.

At the end of the day, I was ready for a shower and a chance to finally sit down. Today was a great learning experience. My Grandpa Tom always used to say, "Work hard, have fun, and learn a lot." Well today, I believe I made him proud and I'm sure I'll have a lot more days like this......especially when we are scheduled to take semen samples once every week. Can you say "whooo hooo" ? I'll be sure to take more pictures, but for now check these out!