It froze here last night too.
I think, Soapweed, what you are calling photosensitivity might be PE...Pulmonary Emphasemia. It occurs when putting cattle that have been on dry feed in to a lush meadow or even a fresh pasture with lush draws. It usually happens from 5 - 12 days after the change of feed. We had a lot of it in Wyoming when we went from dry pasture in the fall to irrigated hay meadows. I've seen the lungs of those afflicted cattle and they look like the bubble packing iused in packages. The air gets in and can't get out, so the cattle smother eventually.
And yes, we had Herefords.
I worked at the Game and Fish Check Station each fall and I remember one of the neighbors stopping in and telling me he had just come by our place and we had 5 dead cows on one of the meadows. I got ahold of Mr. FH, who was getting ready to go on a hunting trip and he and a buddy went to the ranch to check. Sure enough, there were 5 dead cows.
I sold milk and eggs at that time, and customers from town came out and picked them up. Some of those lady customers were out at the ranch and noticed someone dragging the dead cows off the meadow. They called the sheriff and the sheriff called for help over the radio as there was a report of someone butchering cattle east of town and to meet him at the Haley Ranch (which we leased). One of the highway patrolmen was at the Check Station with me when the call for back-up came over the radio. He stayed with me as we were both wondering what the heck was going on. Soon, the next message over the radio was the sheriff and he said, "We've got 'em surrounded!!!"
Well, it was Mr. FH and his friend... :shock:
The ladies were very embarrassed, but we thanked them for paying attention. After all, they didn't know who it was and we might not have either.
