"I was going to die. On this pretty fall day in a muddy cow pen,

I was going to die, gored in the belly by a sick cow."

When Rosalie Cooper-Chase joined a veterinary practice in her mid-20s as an assistant, she found her calling. She knew she wanted to help animals more than anything, but she probably didn't know at the time that she'd have to wade through ankle-deep mud, talk her way past a pack of farm dogs, and deal with guard donkeys to do so.

What makes a young woman head off to the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, only to find herself at the back end of a cow in the rain and the dark, straightening the legs of a twisted calf so it could be born? Only the stories in Close Encounters of the Bovine can give you the answer.

Rosalie tells her tales-heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking-with simple honesty and unflinching detail. Her love of the animals she tries to help is always obvious, but you'll quickly discover that Rosalie has an uncanny ability to understand animals and communicate with them. It is her deep respect for cows and all animals that make them come alive as individuals, each worthy of consideration and care-even the lame bull with a nasty disposition.

You'll quickly discover that Rosalie brings more than skill, knowledge, and a love of animals to her life's work. She has an uncanny ability to understand animals and communicate with them. And although there's not likely to be a new best-seller called The Cow Whisperer, given that cows are often misunderstood and underestimated by humans, you'll soon begin to understand why those who raise cows and those you try to mend them learn to love them.

Rosalie's cows have personality and smarts. And they certainly have grit. Add a sense of humor and you'll also have a pretty good description of the author of this book about the adventures of an East Texas rural veterinarian.

Though Rosalie's eyes you'll see a newborn calf lying on the ground, struggling for its first breath, and you'll know the exhilaration and humility she feels at having saving its life and that of its mother. Whether delivering newborns or dealing with difficult human clients, Rosalie brings insight, compassion, and a humorous touch to every situation. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And you'll grow to appreciate the life and work of a large animal veterinarian.

"I was going to die. On this pretty fall day in a muddy cow pen,

I was going to die, gored in the belly by a sick cow."

Close Encouters of the Bovine, Recollections of a Rural Veterinarian