HOT SHOTS

when I was a button the electric cattle prod was a metal tube with about a dozen c cell batteries and a little motor in the end. the handle was rubberized and spring loaded. when you pushed it against the animal it activated the motor and shocked the animal. problem was they were heavy, cumbersome and the user was tempted to use it as a club instead of how it was desighned for. along about the early 70 s a fiber glass model with a plastic handle, and a long pole was introduced.  much improved it used 6 batteries and the same motor but had a button you pressed when you wanted to activate it. packers hated hot shots, of any kind.  they leave a bruise  in the meat when used heavily.  if you would simply lay the hot end against the animal that would be adequate. but the temptation to poke, jab, and whip was great. and then to if you did use the appliance correctly the animal became animated with no regard for themselves. many times bouncing off fences, loading into trucks or trailers so fast they would bruise their ribs.  but there is nothing more aggravating as a fat animal who refused to load in a truck. some of them would jump , or try to jump fences, fight  the horse of the cowboy trying to drive them into the truck.  as time went on cowboys in feedlots have become more and more educated in the use of the hot shot.  but years ago we wernt to up on the little things that hotshot was good for. one day we had finished loading a truck of fat cattle. jimmy was standing there talking to a truck driver. while talking he had absent mindedly rested his chin on the business end of the hot shot he held. his friend gilbert eased up using his toed against the handle of that hot shot that set on the ground depressed the button.  in the blink of a eye jimmy became animated!! a little black dot appeared under his chin where the contact points had arced into jimmies chin. I decided, as the kid of the bunch that I had something better do some place else!!