Article September 9, 1967 Issue

Keep Out the Scrubbers

THOMAS BUSHNIE

Scrubbers are mean, inbred, refractory cattle running wild and unmanageable in the scrublands of the Australian outback. They resist pugnaciously every attempt to control them. If inadvertently allowed into a sleeping mob of overlanding cattle by night, the scrubber will rampage through them. Horning, kicking, and stirring them up, he soon has them roused and milling in jittery confusion. Without the calming voice of their watcher to reassure them, they swing into a fear-maddened stampede, racing blindly through the darkness and hidden dangers of the night.

Hastily mounted riders, risking life and limb, gallop in tense anxiety through the dark to swing and stem, steady and stop, the hurtling, fear-crazed avalanche before any irretrievable damage is done. But such a situation need never arise.

The wise cattleman preserves the harmony and safety of his charges by his untiring vigilance. Alert to recognize, vigilant to intercept, active to resist, persistent to repel, he watchfully keeps out scrubbers, and so prevents any disruptive intrusion and resultant stampede.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Satisfying Homemaking