I agree with the lesson of the calf's path, but a few years ago I was talking to a civil engineer, and he said many roads that are made follow traditional cattle paths because cattle will only climb at certain slope angles that happen to coincide with optimal road engineering slopes angles for cars.  I tried to find proof on the internet, but I could not.

The point of the poem is a lone calf that wandered unwittingly. Don't apply analytics to art. It removes all the fun.

Fair enough.