MANAGING VICIOUS BULLS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1401, 29 March 1912, Page 8

MANAGING VICIOUS BULLS.

VALUE OF BLINDFOLDING.

■ -llanv an extra £ood-sire has decreased his valito., atul not infrcc|itentlv lias called lenders for n bullet, by reason ofnis bail teiuper aiid tho fact that lie was almost unmanageable. "A Canadian writer remarks in this connection that tlie safest nnd simplest means of handling a viciou.s bull is to blindfold him. Ho may bo managed by means of ropes and pulleys, giving him room to movo out of his stall when required anil bringing him back to his place, but it is a cumbersome method. Blindfolding quietly takes all tho conceit out of a blusterer. A broad baiukgo of 'double sacking 'securely fastened, over his eyes may serve the. purpose, ordinarily in tho 'stable. This device may bo used io good advantage in handling a nervous or excitablo beast while being led to market, or drawn in a wagon to be shipped otut train. I remember, says the writeK-a ca.so of a. heifer received on the train being so. wildly excited'that she would jump at a person approaching her to lip.tio her halter, but" lay throwing a blanket over lier head and afterwords -tying-n-sack- over her eves she was quietly'unloaded and tied behind a wagon, which sho followed as'meekly as, one could desire. ' .

Mismanagement or lack of thought makes a great deal of trouble in the handling of stock. Often we see men chasing pigs all over tlio place .in the vain effort to got them into a pen, the aiiimals always froing in.tho' direction contrary to tlio one they are desired 'to go, while by having a pair of low light hurdles hinged together forming a V-shapsd guide tho animals , can bo handled quickly and with the uso of no unseemly words. ■ Vicious bulls are generally made so by unwise treatment when'young, giving them too much liberty or iis'ing them Cruelly. ■ It is well to n'se them .kindly, but they, should be trusted 110 moro than is necessary,'for it sometimes happens that a l>nll that lias been quiet suddenly and unexpectedly becomes vicious and maims a man foV life or gores him to death. It-is tlio part of wisdom to linndlo.-a bull, with a strong stalT and a' safe connecOon with his; jtose-ring, no ■ matter how quiet lie may be.