The Hero of the Herd: More Tales from a Country Veterinarian

The Hero of the Herd: More Tales from a Country Veterinarian

For the thousands of readers who fell in love with Doc McCormack and the farmers, cattlemen, and moonshiners of Choctaw County in Fields and Pastures New and A Friend of the Flock,   The Hero of the Herd is like coming home to old friends. There's Carney Sam Jenkins, the county's amateur vet/taxidermist, with his stock diagnosis of "kidneyitis"; Bob "Sinkin" Jenkins, a 250-pound tough-as-nails hog farmer and "Olympic champion fainter" who can barely stand the sight of blood; and Goat, the mailman who doubles as the town gossip. There are new folks too--the McCormacks' infant son, Paul; J.B. and Pool Do, the best hired hands in the state of Alabama; and one especially fractious piglet named Fred. There are even some big changes--like the new color television behind the counter at Miss Ruby McCord's Grocery and Service Station. But it's still the same Choctaw County, where late-night calf deliveries keep Doc up past his bedtime, where the local barbershop is the place to catch up on all the news, and where your best friends and neighbors are always just a holler away. Of course, our coveralls were wet and covered with mud, and, as expected, there was a problem with one hard-core resister. That particular hog had apparently decided he wanted no part of the surgical procedure and had somehow evaded capture by scaling the short fence and retreating back down the hill into the swamp.          Suddenly a grim-faced Buck beelined toward the escapee, who was taking a breather in the deepest, gummiest part of the lot. When he came to within about ten feet of the porker, Buck made a flying tackle and landed atop the surprised pig. The resulting chaos was worthy of national television coverage. In spite of their giggling, Everett and John piled on the wallowing duo. In the process of trying to jump and run through the mud, I lost both of my knee-high rubber boots. When it was all over, we stood staring at the scene for several minutes. Never had I seen such a sight. All we needed were several fires burning, smoke spiraling upward, and the scene would have been reminiscent of a Civil War movie not long after the Yankees had marched through the farmsteads outside Atlanta. YA-While this return to Dr. McCormack's veterinarian practice in Choctaw County, AL, in the 1960s will delight fans of the first two books, readers unfamiliar with them will still enjoy this addition to the series. The author's reminiscences continue to be punctuated with plenty of humorous events and with a lot of good-natured fun poked at his own attempts at healing a wide variety of large farm animals along with some dogs and pigs. The vet's growing understanding of people and animals becomes more apparent as he narrates each successive experience. His growing maturity and wisdom in dealing with human, bovine, and various other types of animals clearly becomes a theme throughout the book. Old friends from the previous titles reappear, and new individuals join the ranks, adding different perspectives, some variety, and more smiles. Young adults interested in veterinary science or those who just like animals and enjoy a good bit of humor will be satisfied. Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Continuing Fields and Pastures New (1995) and A Friend of the Flock (1997), McCormack, now a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Georgia, relates more of his experiences as a young country vet in Choctaw county, Alabama, during the 1950s and '60s. Since his was primarily a large-animal practice, most of his stories are about such large-animal concerns as cholera vaccination and dehorning, emergency bovine C-sections, and marathon hog castration (not to mention one case of porcine cosmetology!)--plus treating the occasional coon dog or deerhound. Also involved, more than incidentally, are colorful human characters including "Sinkin'" Jenkins, a farmhand who faints at the sight of blood; Carney Sam Jenkins, the local taxidermist and self-taught animal doctor; and the members of McCormack's own family. Throughout, he conveys to the reader his dedication to his work and his ability to find humor in almost any situation. Barbara Duree McCormack's (A Friend of the Flock, 1997, etc.) further adventures as a rural veterinarian in the deep South, presented as a long, knee-slapping wheeze, perhaps in an effort to counterbalance his earlier, gruffer, and more condescending, efforts. ``It was Easter Sunday afternoon, and I was snoozing on the sofa, when I heard the jingle of the phone.'' So it goes for Choctaw County, Ala., vet McCormack, who runs a one-man county-wide operation and is on call always (and grouses about it frequently). Lightly knit together here are 32 pastels about tending to his flock, and the tone is much gentler than in his previous two collections, though the writing maintains its unrehearsed, over-a-cup-of-coffee quality. Not that he doesn't take his work seriously, but