The Amazing Red Poll - Part 2

The dogs and I were driving to visit a small herd of Red Poll cattle in Pennsylvania, the only herd in the entire northeast. This is a scene from the Susquehanna Valley:

Once we entered Pennsylvania, the roadway followed closely alongside the Susquehanna River:

And, about 3 hours after leaving Albany, we arrived at the Red Poll farm. The owners were a married couple, both retired from the navy. They were friendly and helpful, allowing my dogs out to poop on their lawn. Then we drove through the mists over a few hills to visit the Red Poll cattle. This was my first view of them:

Red Polls, you may remember from an earlier post, are an old English breed which is naturally polled (hornless) and dual purpose (for both milk and meat). We walked closer toward the cows:

I noticed the widely sprung rib cage of the cows, a sign of a good dairy animal. And they had straight legs and a beautiful red color. The calves had grown quickly and were bigger than I'd expected them to be. We walked closer:

As we walked toward them, the calves were curious but the cows continued to chew their cuds. None of them moved away as field cattle normally do:

This lady regarded me with interest but was neither hostile nor afraid:

Pansy, a heifer calf, decided that I was fascinating and followed me everywhere:

The farmer encouraged me to get closer and meet them. This cow, Paula, was Pansy's mother and the friendliest of them all. I'll post more photos tomorrow of these amazing animals: