Cattle, Just Standing There

Living in Montana, you expect to find cattle milling about on both country roads and secondary highways. This is quintessential “cattle country,” with roots that run back to the great cattle drives of the 1860s. Moreover, in Montana, the number of cattle often surpasses the human population. A recent tally placed Montana's human population at around 1.1 million, while its cattle population exceeded 2.5 million. Additionally, when considering land space, Montana's vast territory provides over 93 million acres of land, much of which is suitable for cattle ranching.

Montana long ago adopted open range laws, meaning that livestock owners are not always responsible for keeping their animals off of roads or private property. As a property owner or driver, it is generally your responsibility to make provisions for excluding or avoiding livestock.

People visiting Montana for the first time are often confused or amazed when they are forced to stop because cattle have taken to standing in the road. I recall my nephew telling me about the first time his wife, who is from the Midwest, reacted when a herd of cattle brought them to a cautious crawl on a backroad. She made my nephew stop so she could take pictures.

“The cows are in the road,” she said. “They are all over the place.”

“Yep,” my nephew responded.

“They are right in the road… just standing there.”

“They’re cows. That’s what they do. They just stand there.”

This kind of thing is a challenge for folks from other places, but they adapt soon enough.

Cattle on the Highway (Havre Daily News)

—Mitchell Hegman