COMANCHE CO., Okla_ About 130 Texas longhorns headed
for their new homes today.
It's the 69th Annual Wichita
Mountains Wildlife Refuge
Longhorn Auction. These cattle are the pride of the refuge and this auction is
the high point
this time of year. The annual event sells off surplus cattle to make room for
the younger herd.
Cattleman Richard
Robbins said being at the auction every year is a dream come true. He's been
coming to this the wildlife refuge auction since 1975. He's not here for just
any longhorn; he said cattle have to meet his checklist.
"I look
for size mostly. I want the bigger calves, wider, longer. Any place they can
put a little short animal, there's not room for any meat. The wider the more
meat there is."
Robbins said he
never knows how many cattle he may leave the auction with.
"I don't
know what I'm going to do. I'm going to keep the bargain basement closed. Many times
I've gone out of here with the cheapest animal, because if anybody's going to
steal one, I want it to be me."
Refuge officials
say the auction is a vital part of keeping the wildlife population in proper
balance, but they understand how the drought may hamper sales.
"Even
though we have people coming from all over the nation," wildlife biologist
Walter Munsterman said, "A high
percentage of them are stuck right here in kind of the extreme drought strip of
the central great plains. So they're struggling. They're hurting for water. They're
hurting for grass pasture to feed these animals."
Munsterman said
he likes what he sees so far.
"I'm
happy. We've got a good turnout. You know we've got a lot of buyers out here
with trailers, and that's always a good sign"
Refuge officials said they sold all 136 of their cattle today, bringing
in a little over $68,000. Munsterman said longhorn typically sell for a few
hundred to a few thousand dollars apiece. A portion of that money stays on the
refuge to take care of the remaining herd. The rest of it is put back into the
national treasury.
