Cow Town, USA?
It's not the first time that cattle have wandered down from the hills north of town into my neighborhood along Wilson Ave, yet it was still a surprise to see them and the dog catcher at the end of the road last week. After 30 minutes or so to gather their posse, the animal control guys, ranchers, a couple cops herded a dozen or so cows back up to N. Country Club road and north along the mesa to the GAMERCO land with the grazing lease. 
I first saw the urban cows a couple years ago when I came home one summer evening to find them in my backyard (without planted gardens that year) munching on 4-wing saltbush and ripening wolfberry. Just as I began to shoo away the herd, the clearly winded dog catcher jogged around an adjoining building and as he continued to herd the cows up the steep slope, seemed to hesitate and struggle with whether or not to ask the question, if these were my cows. He did. And I replied that I only wished so. I felt proud just to be asked the question! But, the full story is I have a history with the dog catcher. The same guy, who lives just a block down Wilson, had visited the year before, with his full rig and a coworker, to inform me that my front-yard free ranging flock of 9 hens, 5 guinea foul, and a turkey violated Gallup's rules that limit pets to, "three cats and three dogs." He gave me 2 weeks to slaughter or get rid of them, which I did with most of the hens, but I kept the guineas and the turkey till later that fall and never saw the guy again. I also kept them out of the front yard, and have never raised those tough, incredibly loud little African birds again. That turkey, a huge tom, was stolen Christmas eve later that year, the night before it was to be served. Not the most successful start to raising poultry, but I've kept at it. A little more successfully than that first year. More on that later.
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