“How’s it going this winter, Jake?” I heard my grandmother from southeast Nebraska ask over the phone. “Oh, it’s not too bad, but it’s been pretty cold,” I replied. Through the speaker her reply came: “Well, what did you expect when you moved to South Dakota?”

Yes, South Dakota is often placed on a top 10 list of states with the worst winters. I can attest that it earns it, not so much from the snowfall as from the temperature and that never-ending wind. At this point many will interject that North Dakota ranks higher, but that brings little solace when Jack Frost nips through your coat on a frozen February calving call near I-90 and U.S. 81. Just because the folks in Minot are tough enough to function near absolute zero, it doesn’t warm me up one degree down here.

And on that sub-zero calving call, the elements create a number of challenges particularly interesting to bovine veterinary medicine. Water and medicine can freeze before you have a chance to use it. Normally nimble fingers begin to fumble with suture and needles when exposed to cold air for a length of time. And worst of all, when you get done with a job and return to the pickup, your darn coffee isn’t even warm anymore!

So, if necessity is the mother of all invention, bitter cold has to be the matriarch of jerry-rigged heating devices. To keep vaccine from freezing in the syringe, I’ve seen everything used from hot pads to liquefied petroleum (LP) heaters. My personal favorite was a brown paper bag filled with shell corn, microwaved for five minutes. The corn slowly released the heat in the vaccine cooler, keeping the syringes warm enough to stay liquid but not so warm that it killed the vaccine. Note, this method won’t be much help when the temps dip so low your tears freeze to your face.

Bitter chill also causes a veterinarian to encounter unexpected issues. From finding the headgate frozen shut after we put the cow in the chute to discovering the heater in the vet box quit working last night, I’ve had the thrill of rolling with the punches Old Man Winter throws. Just for the record, Bang’s tag ink will freeze at a certain temperature, and the tattoo will not turn out quite as well as you’d like.

Frigid weather can make some jobs worse than others. Preg checking isn’t too bad, as long as the cattle move through quickly, because your arm gets to be in a warm spot frequently. On the other hand, I detest the days when we cut bulls in zero-degree weather. Sticking your hands into a bucket of water repeatedly, especially when it has a 2-inch layer of ice built up along the sides, is not healthy for your fingertips.

For readers of this column from a southern location, you may wonder what must be seriously wrong with your friends up north for living where winter is the longest season. The answer’s really simple. When I made a visit to Louisiana and saw the size of your cockroaches, I skedaddled back north and thanked my lucky stars I lived where it was so cold the air hurt my face.  

PHOTO: This is poor weather for working cattle, unless you plan on freeze branding, of course. Photo by Jake Geis.

Jacob Geis is a veterinarian and blogger in Freeman, South Dakota.