Mr. Culbreath gives us a visual of a tool (here) which, strangely enough, I have some experience with-although we have no cattle or goats ourselves. It is a good story-if told properly...
When I was in college (back when it was all-male) my roommate hailed from Six Mile, SC and lived on a modest farm (40 acres with a few head of cattle). I used to go home with him for Thanksgiving, Easter break, etc. On one of these occasions, a neighbor called looking for a little male assistance with the neutering of a calf as her husband was out of town. My roommate, myself, and the neighbor's two sons (high school age) went into the pasture to capture the calf with Mr. Culbreath's tool in hand.
We spent a good two hours trying to catch that calf. One problem we encountered was that the bull was being protective of the calf, which hampered our efforts. In fact, at one point, we had cornered the calf, the bull and a few other cattle were also in the group. We spread out in a semi-circle and slowly closed in. As the calf shot out of the pack directly at me, I poised for the tackle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another motion-the bull bearing down on me with horns lowered. I forgot the calf and dove for the fence-just making it.
After many attempts, we finally captured that calf, turned it over, and discovered "he" was a "she"-which explained the bull's actions.
So while I have never actually used the tool-I do know its purpose.
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