Longhorn cattle, Stephens County, Texas... Kowa 2x Bell & Howell anamorphic
Found on FM717 about 10 miles north of Caddo, near Ivan, TX, here's a group of longhorn cattle, calves and their "guard" donkeys. Donkeys (large, not miniature), are commonly used as guard animals, protecting vulnerable livestock from predation by coyotes, and especially packs of dogs. Any predators threatening animals bring guarded are at risk of being run off by the donkeys, or... savagely mauled or trampled. The donkeys get along well with animals under their protection, but show no mercy toward dangerous animals invading their space.
We were out for the day driving around on back roads when we encountered these cattle and their calves. We had stopped to take photos from the side of the road and were struck by how unruffled these things were despite our presence. I decided to walk off the road to the wire fence and get some closer images with my wide anamorphic lens, when four donkeys appeared almost as if by magic. Although you see three right away, viewing the image large reveals that the center donkey has four ears, because there's another standing directly behind the one in front. We didn't see where they were hiding, but they certainly saw us and moved into the bunch of cattle when we had been at the fence for a few minutes. After watching us closely for about ten minutes they lost interest and walked away. The cattle stayed.
Taken with a Nikon D610, a Tokina AT-X 90mm f/2.5 macro lens fitted with a Kowa 2x (Bell & Howell) anamorphic lens.
WSKx-JLH9482L
Longhorn cattle, Stephens County, Texas... Kowa 2x Bell & Howell anamorphic
Found on FM717 about 10 miles north of Caddo, near Ivan, TX, here's a group of longhorn cattle, calves and their "guard" donkeys. Donkeys (large, not miniature), are commonly used as guard animals, protecting vulnerable livestock from predation by coyotes, and especially packs of dogs. Any predators threatening animals bring guarded are at risk of being run off by the donkeys, or... savagely mauled or trampled. The donkeys get along well with animals under their protection, but show no mercy toward dangerous animals invading their space.
We were out for the day driving around on back roads when we encountered these cattle and their calves. We had stopped to take photos from the side of the road and were struck by how unruffled these things were despite our presence. I decided to walk off the road to the wire fence and get some closer images with my wide anamorphic lens, when four donkeys appeared almost as if by magic. Although you see three right away, viewing the image large reveals that the center donkey has four ears, because there's another standing directly behind the one in front. We didn't see where they were hiding, but they certainly saw us and moved into the bunch of cattle when we had been at the fence for a few minutes. After watching us closely for about ten minutes they lost interest and walked away. The cattle stayed.
Taken with a Nikon D610, a Tokina AT-X 90mm f/2.5 macro lens fitted with a Kowa 2x (Bell & Howell) anamorphic lens.
WSKx-JLH9482L