Close Encounters of the Cow Kind

I was awoken in the middle of the night by what sounded like cows mooing. This is not something I'm used to hearing. It's not unusual to hear cats fighting, coyotes howling or birds chirping but we don't normally hear cows mooing. We heard the cows again this morning so after breakfast the kids and I ventured out to look for the cows. Our house backs to green space. There is a valley with hiking trails and a couple of creeks. We go down there almost every day for a little hike. Today, when we got to the bottom of the hill we were greeted by approximately 30 cows. They must have gotten lose from a nearby ranch. Holli loved them and wanted to pet them. Winnie was scared to death. As soon as she saw one move she tucked her tail and took off running in the opposite direction. Nice of her to look out the for rest of us. Once she figured out the cows where not a danger she thought it would be a good idea to roll in some of the droppings they left all over the ground. I think cows are pretty cute but very stinky. I'm a little bummed that our nice valley is now covered in cow pies. Hopefully their owner will find them soon.