Cows & Buffalo

When I first came here, I was given the responsibility of looking after a baby cow that Lek had purchased after it fell off the back of a truck heading to the slaughter house. It seems fitting then, that this time, she's given me the responsibility of looking after an orphaned albino water buffalo. Apon is 4 months old. There are currently 5 or 6 other water buffalo at the park, and while they allow Apon to follow them around, they don't really look after her much. I've become her surrogate mother.

Twice a day, I feed her a bottle of milk. She seems to be a bit confused about where the milk comes from. When I walk up to her, she butts her head repeatedly into my calf, trying to nurse. After the feeding, she likes to stand with her head in my lap, or shoved into my armpit while I stroke her neck. I guess I'll take it as a compliment that I seem to be an acceptable water buffalo mother. The rest of the day, Apon stands on the outskirts of the buffalo herd with a slightly stunned expression on her face. The others enjoy wallowing in the mud (and their own shit), but Apon, despite my repeated attempts to lure her into the mud, doesn't seem to like getting dirty. As a result of not having that mud protecting her skin from the sun, the little albino buffalo has turned completely red. Such a pathetic sight.

Veggie, the cow that I first raised, is still here, along with her sister Terrian. Terrian had a calf shortly after my last trip to the park, impregnated likely by the amorous bull. She then had a second calf after another escape, then Veggie had a calf of her own. A sixth cow just showed up at the park one day - no one's quite sure how she got there, and Lek was given (for one reason or another) a bull named Burt. So the final tally is 7 cows, 5 (or maybe 6?) waterbuffalo plus an orphaned albino.

Pictures to come, once I find the time to sort through them all... :)