Sleeping with Cows

Sleeping with cows is not easy. I guess a cowboy could confirm this. I share my “yard” with cows and they often spend summer nights in the pasture that surrounds my house.
Because I camp out on my porch in the warmer months, I often sleep in the company of cows. Cows are big and they make a lot of noise. First there is the mooing. There are many kinds of moos. There is the long low moaning moo, the moo that sounds like a donkey braying, the trumpet moo and the high-pitched squeal, just to name a few. Cows make many other noises such as snorting, tail swishing and the methane gas explosion sound. The best sound is the white noise of 100 head of cattle chewing grass. Sometimes a couple of cows will take a midnight dip in the pond and the resulting splash is sure to wake me. I imagine a friendly bovine dare, “I’ll get in if you do”.
Then there are the “other” sounds. The gushing sound that makes me think I am sleeping near Niagra Falls and finally the unmistakable splat.
While my sleep is often disturbed by my hoofed neighbors, the presence of these creatures is oddly comforting. “My” cows roam over acres of woodland and pasture and even though they are considered a domesticated species, these cattle are not tame. When I go to sleep with cows I wake up feeling a stronger connection with all living things.