Fancy Boots and the Missing Calf

Earlier this summer I bought myself some new rain boots. I'd had the same boring pair for about 5 years and our dog used them as a chew toy on about day 2. Luckily he only ripped the top of my boots and didn't compromise their functionality. My left big toe was starting to get wet this spring so I decided it was time for a new pair. I found these super cute polka dot boots. I know there is no point to buying fancy looking boots to go walk in cow crap, but I liked them and why shouldn't I feel pretty while doing chores? So I splurged (I think I paid $25 or something) and bought them. They were way more comfortable than my old boots and didn't eat my socks either. Bonus! Only problem, they aren't made for poop. They are made to go out occasionally in the rain.

I discovered this flaw the other day as I was searching for a missing heifer calf. About a week ago we had a new heifer calf. When I went to the back to feed the other calves, she was in her pen sleeping peacefully, curled up in the straw. About an hour later I went back to give her a bottle of milk, only she was gone. About this time it also started to rain. Now we have around 200 head of cattle on our farm in various places. We've had calves get out before, but they usually prance in front of the other calves or go bother some cows nearby. Not this one. She was completely gone. Our hired help and I wandered back into the grove a little ways, into the dry cow yard, anywhere a calf might have gone, only to find nothing, no sign of her at all. I felt so bad. It was cold and rainy and this helpless little calf hadn't eaten since the night before. To top it off, she's a heifer, which we'd really like to keep. I wandered through puddles, which led to the discovery of numerous holes in my boots, and all over our farm in the rain. Nothing. The story does, fortunately, have a happy ending. At some point she wandered back home and Pat noticed her and put her back in her pen. She wasn't too wet so she must have been protected back in the grove somewhere. She hasn't been out since. As for my boots, they have been replaced by some new, boring, yet non-leaking, rubber boots.