Bulls Love Dirt

☆ October 12, 2010

bld2
bld3

It’s true.

They all do.

Sir Baby is no exception.

bld1

Comments

30 Responses to “Bulls Love Dirt”

  1. Lesley
    October 12th, 2010 @ 6:17 pm

    Elephants coat themselves in dust and dirt (the muddier the better) as a natural sunscreen and to keep insects at bay. I wonder if bulls do the same?

  2. Maggie
    October 12th, 2010 @ 6:17 pm

    a good roll in the dirt sounds pretty awesome to me too!

  3. Nancy*McKay
    October 12th, 2010 @ 6:20 pm

    …and look @ his sweet eyelashes…swoon…

  4. Sharon
    October 12th, 2010 @ 6:20 pm

    looks like me after a good workout in my garden!

  5. shreve
    October 12th, 2010 @ 6:21 pm

    L ~ but then you would think that cows would do it, too, and they rarely do! It’s a bull thing – Sir Baby does this with giant straw bales, too. He will get absolutely coated in blond straw bits.

  6. hello haha narf
    October 12th, 2010 @ 6:22 pm

    His eye appears to show pure pleasure in the middle image. Great photos!

  7. andrea
    October 12th, 2010 @ 6:25 pm

    I can’t get over the red dirt. For some reason it surprises me every time. We only have boring ole brown dirt.

  8. dusty pines art
    October 12th, 2010 @ 6:54 pm

    what a cutiepie! the look(s) on his face – & his tongue sticking out – silly boy! i do also wonder if it isn’t insect-related – but in october where you are – there must not be many insect pests any more?

  9. Aleta
    October 12th, 2010 @ 11:03 pm

    I was down in Peru on an astronomy expedition. We stopped in a little isolated village ‘way up in the mountains for a rest, and I noticed a HUGE shallow depression in the yard, like a dried pond. Curious, but tired, I went for a bit of a lie-down. About an hour later I heard what I thought was a LION roaring outside my window. Leaped up, looked out: it was a very large bull rolling and rolling and rubbing and scooting himself all over the “pond,” bellowing with pleasure. My host told me he did that every day at about 4 pm on his way from the fields to his barn. Yeah, bulls love dirt. And all these weird shallow depressions in the ground are not alien spaceship landing pads: they are bull dirt baths. Heh.

  10. Scotty
    October 12th, 2010 @ 11:06 pm

    makes me want dirt now

  11. Claudia
    October 13th, 2010 @ 2:47 am

    Love it! Have a grin on my face from ear to ear. Thanks for sharing Shreve!
    What a great way to start the day!

  12. Janet in Cambridge
    October 13th, 2010 @ 6:05 am

    Dirt baths for itchy bulls. We can scratch the itchy places on our faces, but bulls need an outside source.

    I used to ride dressage and after my lesson would clean and groom my horse. But, clearly the best part for Skippy was when I turned my back to him and let him rub, rub, rub his entire face and head against my back and butt.

  13. Dana
    October 13th, 2010 @ 6:17 am

    Shreve,
    I noticed you said cows rarely roll in the dirt, do steers roll in the mud? Just wondered if it isn’t a scent marking/territorial thing.
    Dana

  14. Suzanna
    October 13th, 2010 @ 6:48 am

    I want so desperately to rub his belly. Adorable.

  15. Suzanna
    October 13th, 2010 @ 6:49 am

    I want so desperately to rub his belly. Adorable!

  16. Leisa
    October 13th, 2010 @ 8:02 am

    How fascinating! It’s like a cat rubbing its body in catnip! And then there’s the gorgeous side effect of eyeliner to boot!! Thanks for ever expanding my world in such (no word comes to mind) a way!!

  17. Marg
    October 13th, 2010 @ 8:38 am

    Don’t all girls love Dirty Boys? I think he figured that one out!

  18. Ursula
    October 13th, 2010 @ 8:51 am

    That is too cute…I love it.

  19. taffy
    October 13th, 2010 @ 10:10 am

    Yes how cute is Sir Baby in the dirt! He looks so happy! Is it maybe a cologne for male ruminants? Our Fallow Deer bucks do the same thing during rut! Dirt all over thier faces, eyes, noses, ears and shoulders, then the weeds and plants that were in the dirt end up hanging from their antlers and then they parade around as if they now have even larger antlers. i wonder if it is a scent thing, maybe trying to spread their scent around to mark the territory and take a bit of it with them for future flirtings!

  20. gabip
    October 13th, 2010 @ 10:13 am

    You couldn’t have picked a better name for him, he is big sweet baby. I really enjoy when you share these moments with us, his personality is jumping out in these pictures.

  21. Evan
    October 13th, 2010 @ 11:18 am

    A friend of mine has a couple of “pet” buffalos. Her young male also enjoys a good roll.

  22. Todd
    October 13th, 2010 @ 12:03 pm

    I see Animal Vegetable Miracle on your bookshelf. My wife and I listened to the audiobook version on the way from Portland to Montana last month (read by Ms Kingsolver, daughter and husband). We also had J Childs, My Life in France. The two books were different but very complimentary slants on the same subject. You might want to try Julia’s early food adventures (and you might find the random but fortuitous path of her life familiar).

  23. Deborah
    October 13th, 2010 @ 1:27 pm

    Sweet Thing!

  24. Chris
    October 13th, 2010 @ 2:01 pm

    Oh, that tongue in the first photo… and the expression / posture of total ecstasy in the second! Just priceless.

  25. Steve H.
    October 13th, 2010 @ 3:16 pm

    A certain ’46 Jeep still has a large dent in the passenger side roof from when my uncle was trying to herd a heifer with that jeep (me riding shotgun, no doors on jeep) and he hit one of those bull dirt holes. 55 years later, a very clear memory, (which is actually a bit puzzling. ) And my uncle did it again a few minutes later. Watch where the vehicle is going in a pasture with bulls!

  26. Amelia
    October 15th, 2010 @ 11:10 am

    Have seen this many times, and love the raw, primal, sounds that go along with it. In summer, we pastured first calf heifers for a guy and the bulls that came with them. There was one in particular that used to walk by the kitchen window every morning on his way to water. He walked along rubbing his head in the dirt just outside the door yard, and I loved his sexy voice.

  27. Cheri
    October 15th, 2010 @ 2:30 pm

    I absolutely love your blog. I am a huge cow/steer lover. Dont have any but enjoy seeing them and their babies. Keep up the great work.

  28. Bumblebee
    October 16th, 2010 @ 8:08 pm

    Oh, how adorable! Glad he is enjoying himself so much! :) LOVE the tongue and cute eyelashes.. What a hunk!!! :)

  29. Jenny C
    October 18th, 2010 @ 1:44 pm

    ANYTHING that makes an animal happy makes me beam with joy. I have no idea why, but I love, love, love dirt – its smell, its ability to grow food, its color. So… dirt and a beautiful bull – doesn’t get any better ‘n that. Sir Baby, I get it, and you are gorgeous all-black or with those red highlights!

  30. christie
    September 21st, 2014 @ 3:50 pm

    The boy looks great with eye make-up! <3

Leave a Reply





  • MY NEW BOOK!

    • mwchrdF
    • SBhrd
    • Bhrd
  • More, Elsewhere

    • tdcbuttonb
    • newshopbutton16s
    • IGflicka
  • Tweets

    • No Tweets Available
  • Follow Honey Rock Dawn

    Enter your email address to receive new posts via email.

  • My Books

    • tdccoverbutton
    • ten
  • What I’m Reading

  • Categories

  • RSS