I had a family member that was a traveling cow inseminator and he loved cows. I was at a steak house with him and asked why he is eating a giant steak for dinner if he loved cows so much. He kind of just shrugged and said “without the steak, I wouldn’t get to hang around cows all day”
Spending part of my summer with him was illuminating. I bet beef would be way less popular if people got a chance to pet a cow regularly. Very smart animals, at least emotionally smart.
No kidding. I travel a lot, and I make a point out of trying “weird” stuff. In Calabar (Nigeria) I tried dog, I would describe the taste kind of like sheep, but not quite.
I had a pet cow growing up named Softy. We got him at a rural fair and because he looked frail and my stepmom felt in love with him. He just hung out with our dogs and pretty much through he WAS a dog. He played fetch, but didn’t know what to do with the tennis ball when he’d get it.
A couple of years later we realized to our horror that he was now a gigantic bull that wanted nothing more than to murder us for some reason. We gave him his own little pasture because he couldn’t be trusted around the dogs or the house anymore. He ended up getting stolen one night after we had repeated refused requests to sell him to some guys that wanted to butcher him. RIP Softy you murderous beast. :(
From what I understand, they’re at least as smart as dogs, if not more so. The guy/scientist who wrote “Cowpuppy” mentions they can recognize themselves and others in a mirror!
Years ago, I went caving out in the sticks with an outdoors group. To change into my caving outfit, I went behind the end of a cornrow, next to a pasture fence. A group of three cows up the hill noticed, and moseyed down the hill to watch. It was pretty clear from their body language that they were bored and curious. (And also, voyeurs.)
The lead cow mooed at me in a way that kind of sounded like a question. What the heck, I figured, and mooed back. I don’t know what I said, but it was scandalous. The cows’ faces looked like they were positively shocked, and they promptly turned around and marched back over the hill. It was like a real-life “My mother was a saint!” sitcom joke, but with cows instead of a foreign language.
Yeah, I had no doubt that there was intelligence there.
I grew up with cows. They’re surprisingly similar to dogs. Just as playful, just not as bright. They’re awesome.
I had a family member that was a traveling cow inseminator and he loved cows. I was at a steak house with him and asked why he is eating a giant steak for dinner if he loved cows so much. He kind of just shrugged and said “without the steak, I wouldn’t get to hang around cows all day”
Spending part of my summer with him was illuminating. I bet beef would be way less popular if people got a chance to pet a cow regularly. Very smart animals, at least emotionally smart.
I know what you meant, but the images this brings to mind…
Don’t shake that man’s hand.
Uhh sir that’s not how you’re supposed to inseminate them!
He went on to say that the man loved cows. What’s not to get?
Well you’re not getting any baby cows that way, that’s for sure
This man had a dream, and tried to make it true. Can you blame him?
That sentence was a mental triple-take
It’s a hell of a way to start a story!
I love both cows and dogs, and I grew up around both. And I’ve eaten both.
No kidding? How was dog?
No kidding. I travel a lot, and I make a point out of trying “weird” stuff. In Calabar (Nigeria) I tried dog, I would describe the taste kind of like sheep, but not quite.
Makes sense, really. Thanks for the response
I had a pet cow growing up named Softy. We got him at a rural fair and because he looked frail and my stepmom felt in love with him. He just hung out with our dogs and pretty much through he WAS a dog. He played fetch, but didn’t know what to do with the tennis ball when he’d get it.
A couple of years later we realized to our horror that he was now a gigantic bull that wanted nothing more than to murder us for some reason. We gave him his own little pasture because he couldn’t be trusted around the dogs or the house anymore. He ended up getting stolen one night after we had repeated refused requests to sell him to some guys that wanted to butcher him. RIP Softy you murderous beast. :(
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/cowpuppy-book-cow-intelligence-emotions/
From what I understand, they’re at least as smart as dogs, if not more so. The guy/scientist who wrote “Cowpuppy” mentions they can recognize themselves and others in a mirror!
Years ago, I went caving out in the sticks with an outdoors group. To change into my caving outfit, I went behind the end of a cornrow, next to a pasture fence. A group of three cows up the hill noticed, and moseyed down the hill to watch. It was pretty clear from their body language that they were bored and curious. (And also, voyeurs.)
The lead cow mooed at me in a way that kind of sounded like a question. What the heck, I figured, and mooed back. I don’t know what I said, but it was scandalous. The cows’ faces looked like they were positively shocked, and they promptly turned around and marched back over the hill. It was like a real-life “My mother was a saint!” sitcom joke, but with cows instead of a foreign language.
Yeah, I had no doubt that there was intelligence there.
I would say it depends on the dog breed being compared to. There’s a wide range of intellegence there.
Yeah, cows and one of my dogs might be of near equal intelligence, but the other one would lose an intelligence test to an amoeba.
He’s super dumb is what I’m saying.
God explains some animals
Until the poop on your rug
Wasn’t there this guy that bred dog-sized cows? I think south america? What happened to it?
Edit: dog-sized cows, not cow-sized dogs.