A feedyard pen, says Jack Scoggins Jr., isn't the place to start
calves.  While that reality has long been known by cattle
feeders, it's especially true when dealing with calves from the
brush and pear of South Texas. A load of put-together, salebarn
cattle of unknown origin is a risk, no doubt. But at least you
don't have to coax them down from the trees.  While Scoggins
says it's not quite that bad, dealing with naive, native South
Texas calves does have its unique challenges. “A lot of South
Texas cattle come off places where they're a little skittish,”
he says.  A little? They're as wild as deer and every bit as
athletic. Outside of their mamas, the extent of their social
contact amounts to coyotes, rattlesnakes and an occasional
alligator. Then a helicopter chases them out of the brush, a
brush-popping cowboy chouses them into trap, and they levitate
themselves onto a truck. When they unload from the semi at Starr
Feedyard, they're wild-eyed with a kink in their tails.  And the
last thing they're ready t