A “smarter” calf is on the move in Stewiacke, NS
Sky, an eight-month-old, 225-kilogram black and white Simmental cross, escaped on February 13 and was spotted across the city – but her owner had no luck catching her.
“She hasn’t lost any weight, she’s not injured in any way, she looks amazing. She’s really living her best life on this adventure right now. We’d just prefer her to live her best life at home than out in a field, but hopefully we’ll get her back,” Kristen Battiste, the owner’s daughter, told CBC Maritime noon in an interview on Monday.
Battiste says she and her father were out every weekday evening and all weekend tracking down Sky. You find them, but the logistics of catching them are complex.
“The difficult part is that the field it’s on doesn’t belong to us, so we have to be respectful of the land and the owners who actually own it,” Battiste said.
“So we couldn’t build her an enclosure or anything like that, and she’s pretty smart, so she likes to hide in the woods surrounding the field. So she gets off pretty quick.”
Battiste said people in the community made suggestions and helped bring Sky home.
“We’ve had people make suggestions about herding dogs. We don’t know anyone with herding dogs unfortunately, but would definitely welcome their involvement if we could,” she said.
A cowboy tried to wrap a rope around Sky’s foot over the weekend but to no avail, Battiste said. She said he didn’t have his horse so he could try again later.
“He spent five hours outside with us,” Battiste said.
talk of the town
Another person, Battiste said, suggested a tranquilizer dart, but “it’s pretty expensive when someone comes out and does that.” But she said that option is on the table “if necessary”.
Despite being away from home for more than two weeks, Sky appears to be healthy. Battiste says she and her father brought down hay, feed and water.
Sky’s escape has become the talk of the town, Battiste said.
“Every time we go somewhere, people recognize our faces on Facebook because we kept them up to date in our chat. They recognize us at the grocery store, at the gas station, and always ask for updates,” she said.
“We tried to keep people informed as much as possible. It was a great kind of community participation project because everyone is really involved and really wanted to get home safe.”
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