This is part of series of photos I took of Tucker, a 2500-lb steer who was rescued from a petting zoo and now lives at Catskill Animal Sanctuary. (It was the petting zoo's practice to buy baby animals and then send them to slaughter after about a year, when they stopped being babies.)

He is looking a bit agitated in some of these photos because he was being bothered by flies. After a while, he ambled over for a head and chin scratch.

[dasPaul]

He looks so cute in the middle picture

[frogoutofwater]

He looks so cute in the middle picture

Ironically, I think that's the moment when the flies were really bothering him.

He's a real sweetheart. He did that thing that dogs and cats do when they want you to know that they're not finished with being stroked. I stopped and turned to walk away, and he made a kind of quiet mumph noise. I turned around, and he bobbed his head a bit. I walked back over and he tucked his nose under my hand and gently lifted it - as if to say, "Please keep scratching."

[luftfluss]

(It was the petting zoo's practice to buy baby animals and then send them to slaughter after about a year, when they stopped being babies.)

That made my stomach do an unhappy flop.

Anyway, that's an entertaining tryptich. I can't help but think there are folks who would enjoy having it hung on their wall... it has a folksy sort of expressiveness to it.

[frogoutofwater]

That made my stomach do an unhappy flop. .

It's a common practice in petting zoos.

[sealonsf]

Tucker is a adorable. If I wasn't already a vegetarian, I might become one after seeing these pictures and hearing your story.