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Those are some mighty big deer tracks, aren’t they? Note the toe of my boot for scale. We found these tracks all over the place down by the dam, around parts of the lake, throughout the pecan plantation, along the eastern fence line, and into the forest. It must have been a whole herd of really big deer.

Or it may have been something else, since we found a lot of this in all of those same places:

Maybe our interloping visitors were the ghosts of cattle from the days when Roundrock was part of a ranch. Or maybe they were actual cattle that had somehow found a way in to Roundrock and made a bovine mess of things.

This was what greeted us when Seth and I got down to our woods on Father’s Day. And from the looks of things, we had just missed the visitors. In fact, I suspected that the cattle were still around somewhere, perhaps in the trees where they could find some shade.

With this in mind, we began tracking the trespassers. It was easy to do. They pretty much tore up the ground wherever they went, leaving their big prints in the soggy ground (plus their soil-enriching additive), and mashing down the grass and scrub in the direction of their getaway.

From the top of the dam, we followed the deer down into the pecan plantation. They mostly wandered around down there, though one of the pecans was pretty much destroyed by what I guess was a cow scratching herself on the post and cage around it. (I hadn’t factored in itchy cattle when I designed those cages for the little trees.) Their tracks lead into the trees along our eastern border, and I thought we just might be able to find them in there.

The tracks grew muddled in there. It looked as though the bulk of the herd went south in the direction of our woods we call the Hinterland. That seemed likely since it is deeply forested and was probably cool. But those tracks petered out and the only clear direction we could find was a few cattle wandering along the slope south of the pecan plantation toward the dam.

The cattle had crossed the dam, though a few ventured down the edge of it to the water to get a drink. Some also wandered down the face of the dam and back into the pecans again.

After that, we lost their track. We were to learn later that they had grown smart. They had simply walked up our road where there was no grass or scrub and where the ground was comparatively firm. They later found the only break in the fence along our northern property line and entered our neighbor’s corn field. Not only did they tear up the soft ground there, but they appeared to have had a good time munching on his knee-high corn. The cattle that didn’t avail themselves of the fence break for some free corn found their way onto Good Neighbor Brian’s land by exiting through our pine plantation.

The wet ground gave their tracks the appearance of being fresh, but they may have been several days old. Their droppings suggested otherwise, and I really do think we just missed seeing the herd on our land. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are still hanging out in my woods. Plenty to eat and fresh water available. Life would be good there.

Needless to say, our morning did not start out as we planned, so our original agenda was modified. We still managed to get a few things done though.

Missouri calendar:

• Bullfrog breeding is at its peak.

• In 1933, a shootout at Kansas City''s Union Station results in the death of one criminal and four federal agents. "Pretty Boy" Floyd was one of the shooters. Bullet holes are still visible in the wall of the train station.
• Actor Mark Linn-Baker is born on this date in St. Louis in 1954.