Seen and heard at Ag Expo

August 02, 2004|by SCOTT BUTKI

Like many animals this weekend, Emma was pretty hot Sunday afternoon.

And like some animals, she took a shower to cool off.

Unlike most animals, though, her shower came in the form of a hose at the Washington County Ag Expo.

Emma, who is less than a year old, is a Scottish highland, a type of beef cow, Gladys Keadle of Sharpsburg said.

Emma, owned by Gladys' son, Austin, 8, is in the expo's petting zoo.

She hosed her off since it was obvious that Emma was getting warm because she was panting, Gladys Keadle said.

It was clear Emma was enjoying the shower because she resisted attempts for it to stop.

"She was like, "No!" Keadle said.

After laying back in her holding pen at the petting zoo, Emma quickly moved over toward a nearby fan.

The pigs at the Washington County Ag Expo have their own method for dealing with the heat: They stay as still as possible while laying on their sides, said Trenton Smith, 14, of Clear Spring.

Smith and Timmy Martin, 14, of Smithsburg, sat and talked Sunday afternoon while the pigs they owned lay on their sides nearby. Both Smith and Martin are entering pigs into the pig contest this morning.

The pigs like to find a place they like and stay there, not moving, Martin said.

The one time they can be guaranteed to move around more is feeding time, he said.

He could cool them off by hosing them with water, he said.

He considered the idea and then rejected it.

"Mine are pretty content right now and I don't want to get them excited," he said.

This was the first year for Susan Blevins, a cat breeder and exhibitor from Westminster, Md., to judge the cat shows at the Washington County Ag Expo.

"I am just faking it," she said between the 4-H and the open class cat shows.

But you couldn't tell it was her first time from her quick responses to situations and comments Sunday, some of which were more predictable than others.

Take, for example, Blue, a short-haired domestic cat.

Sarah Angle, 11, of Boonsboro, said, "We named him blue because he is blue."

"That is a good call," Blevins replied.

She did not seem surprised later when Monica Stouffer, 17, said the stripes on her red tabby, Tony, spell out "USA."

Blevins also made audience members laugh with some of her comments, including when she said there is a link between the size of a "boy cat" and its level of fear.

The bigger they are, the bigger babies they are, she said.

|

|

|