Hello from Hazard!
Several readers confirmed the first answer to Item No. 837 we received last week from Reva Montgomery. It is a “cow poke”, as Dave Cover of Cortland, Ohio, calls it — used to discourage an animal from climbing, “riding” or otherwise getting through, in, around, over, or stretching a fence.
The hoop goes around the animal’s neck and long part hangs down. The short or “T” head portion rested against the animal’s chest.
“When the critter leaned against the fence, trying to eat objects on the other side,” Cover explains, sharp points within the head jabbed into the animal’s chest in an effort to stop such behavior.
We also heard from: Noah Wengerd of Meadville, Pa.; Floyd Beatty, Streetsboro, Ohio; and Bill Swanson, Butler, Pa.
And, as I suspected, this is a repeat item. Bill Swanson even dug up the issues: We featured it in 2002 and again in 2006. Those must be some good records you keep, Bill! Well, hopefully, there are some new Hazard-ous readers since 2006, so perhaps it’s “new” for them. Our apologies.
You can make it easier for us to avoid repeats, but looking in your own house or basement or garage or barn and sending your Hazard a Guess photos to us. You can send a regular photograph or a digital photo via e-mail or the Web site. Just make sure the background is not too cluttered, and it helps if you include an item or ruler for size reference in the photo. Please also include a detailed description of the item, including size, markings and its use. And if there’s any history to the item, we’d love to hear that, too.
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Item No. 838, which we showed first last week, received nary a guess. Take another look at the gizmo shared by Les Howell of Beach City, Ohio, and tell us how it was used.
Write to: Hazard a Guess, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460; or via e-mail to: editorial@farmanddairy.com. Please include your name, hometown, state for proper identification.
