The "I'll Have Some Milk With My Oreo" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just got back in the car and am trying to maneuver the Mountaineer through the deep grass where I had to pull over to take the photos I was after.  No need to worry though, since the 4-wheel drive can get us through it easily.  This story starts many years ago when our oldest son Derek purchased a home on the western side of Lancaster County, PA.  Quickest way to his house was Rt. 283 West, hop off the bypass at the Salunga Exit and head left towards his house.  Along that stretch of country roads is farm after farm.  Most of the farms are dairy farms with one farm always drawing our attention.  Reason why was a few of the many head of cattle they had were a little different.  No, wait!  They were really different.  They looked like Oreo Cookies.  You know, the kind of cookies that have two, round, black wafers with a white filling in the middle.  Great treat that is one of my favorites.  Good for dunking!  And, then they came out with an Oreo with a double thick filling. Really good cookie.  But, that has nothing to do with my story.   The couple of cows we saw looked just like them with a black body and a white stripe around them.  We called them Oreo cows.  Often wanted to stop and ask if I could take a photo of them and find out more about them, but never did.  Then, today as we were traveling from Havre de Grace, MD towards the dam at Conowingo. MD, while traveling along the back roads of Cecil County, we came upon an entire field of these cows.  

The herd of Belted Galloways.

Carol yelled, "Hey, they were Oreo cows!"  Too late.  I passed them in a flash, but then it hit me.  Stop, LDub and take the photo you always wanted to take.  So I did.  Did a U-turn at the next intersection and worked my way back to the field where we saw them.  Must have been a dozen or more of them.  Pulled over into a field with tall grass, mowing it down as I got off the road.  

Sign along the road by the farm.

Grabbed my camera and headed toward the herd in knee high grass.  Wow!  Really neat animals.  They were grazing in a fenced-in field and having a great time.  Huge cows with a shiny black coat and a milky-white band around their waist about three feet wide.  Took a few shots and then saw a driveway that led to the road.  Walked toward the drive so I could avoid knocking down more grass than I already had.  As I walked toward the road on the driveway I saw another large cow in an area that had an electrified fence around it.  The closer I got I realized this wasn't just any cow, but one without an udder.  It was a bull!  Tremendous in size and he didn't like that I was getting to close to him.  He stomped his front hoof and left out a deep grunt.  

The "Big Fellow".  Click on him to make him look really mean!

I said, "Take it easy, big fellow!"  Quickly snapped a few photos of him and headed out the driveway.  At the end of the drive was a sign that gave me the answer to a question I had for some time.  It read "Shadowstone Farm - Registered Belted Galloways."  Also featured a photo of one of the cows.  When I got home I Googled the breed and found that it originated from Galloway in the western side of southern Scotland.  It was a cross-breed between the black Galloway cattle and the Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle.  It is the white belt that gives them their name.  It is a rather rare breed with a global population of less than 10,000.  They were first imported into the USA by a farmer in Whitemarsh, PA in the late 1940s.  The "Beltie", as they are known, that I encountered as I was leaving the property probably weighed over a ton.  The cows usually weigh only 1000 pounds, but the bulls can reach close to 2500 pounds.  In the United States they are found primarily in the eastern states and are raised for their quality marbled beef, although they are sometimes purchased to adorn pastures due to their striking appearance.  My guess is that is the reason the farm near my son's home had them in their herd.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.