Did you know? Cow facts

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They don't use cattle guards for the roads?

I never understood why but they're used in some places and not others. You won't see any of these on major highways of course, but to get to many places in the outback you have to pass through pastoral leases, sheep to the south and east, cattle through most of the rest of the country.

I guess my dream of owning a few million acres of Australian land is not going to happen. Darn.

You never know what the future may hold. There's an Aussie on the Danish throne now, anything can happen.

 

[Neri]

Did you know that there is a type of beef in Japan where they feed the cows beer and massage them to make it super tender? It is way outside my price range.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagyu

 

[Neri]

I live in an area where there's loads of cattle. Mostly dairy, but even they send the baby bulls off to be dinner.
They look pretty content. We get a very high rainfall here, most of the time, highest in the state, so it's very green and lush grass. Nice milk too, Everytime I go to my closest town/city or off to see my daughter I have to pass so many cows (I call them mooks). Most fun is calving season; the babies are soooo cute! Sometime you see then running around chasing each other, just like any other little kids playing. It truly is adorable!

 

[SusanLR]

I've eaten Akaushi beef. A type of Wagyu breed.
It is very good. And very expensive.
Only a few places around here sell it that I know of.

 

[Mary Terry]

Did you know that there is a type of beef in Japan where they feed the cows beer and massage them to make it super tender? It is way outside my price range.

Wagyu beef? It's outside my price range, too!

 

[Ken]

Did you know that cows have minds? Did you know that cows are sentient beings? Did you know that they have personalities? Did you know that they have opinions? Did you know that they care about others?

I grew up in farm and ranch country surrounded by farm / ranch lands. Most of my childhood, into my teens, were spent in those fields (to escape people). I made very close friendships with the cows and other wildlife in those fields. My favorite place was an abandoned gravel quarry, that since became ranch land. There were deep ravines there that I would sit in all day visiting my wildlife friends. It was a very serene place. I felt safe there from human intrusion.

Several of the cows and horses and many of the wildlife got to know me as a friend. When they saw me they would come, sometimes in a run just to "hang out" with me. I never gave them any incentive such as food, etc. Just friendship. I had possum, racoon, rabbit, rat, cow, bull, horse, chicken, sheep, goat and even a family of skunk friends. They were all my very best, very close friends. They saw me, they understood me and I them. Being autistic, I know about humanity discounting my mentality; because humanity discounts anything that is "different".

They all have a mind and a personality and feelings. Not one of them was a "dumb animal".

 

[Forest Cat]

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One thing many people don't know about cows, is that they will flat out murder you if you make them angry. They look so friendly and docile but looks can be deceiving. A friend of mine worked on a farm and one day he casually walked between a cow and her calf. Huge mistake. He spent weeks in the hospital with a broken hip and leg and ribs. The cow knocked him over and stomped him into the ground. But most mothers will do that if they think you are messing with their kids. So it wasn't really weird or unusual. He blamed himself, shouldn't have walked between them. So nothing happened to the cow, she just did what moms do.

 

[Ken]

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One thing many people don't know about cows, is that they will flat out murder you if you make them angry. They look so friendly and docile but looks can be deceiving. A friend of mine worked on a farm and one day he casually walked between a cow and her calf. Huge mistake. He spent weeks in the hospital with a broken hip and leg and ribs. The cow knocked him over and stomped him into the ground. But most mothers will do that if they think you are messing with their kids. So it wasn't really weird or unusual. He blamed himself, shouldn't have walked between them. So nothing happened to the cow, she just did what moms do.

It's all about thoughtfulness and respect.

 

[Mary Terry]

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One thing many people don't know about cows, is that they will flat out murder you if you make them angry. They look so friendly and docile but looks can be deceiving. A friend of mine worked on a farm and one day he casually walked between a cow and her calf. Huge mistake. He spent weeks in the hospital with a broken hip and leg and ribs. The cow knocked him over and stomped him into the ground. But most mothers will do that if they think you are messing with their kids. So it wasn't really weird or unusual. He blamed himself, shouldn't have walked between them. So nothing happened to the cow, she just did what moms do.

Horses, donkeys, goats, hogs and even roosters will attack you, too. Despite some humans' need to have warm, fuzzy feelings about farm animals, the truth is that they are animals with a thin veneer of "domestication". Each of the species has its own typical instincts and behaviors which cannot be or never has been bred out of them.

I lost a childhood friend in high school to a horse he was riding. He'd owned and ridden the horse for years. One day the horse decided to take him under a tree at a full gallop and it broke his neck when his head hit a tree branch. I've owned horses for over 60 years and I never walk behind a horse close enough for the horse to kick me.

 

[Ken]

Horses, donkeys, goats, hogs and even roosters will attack you, too. Despite some humans' need to have warm, fuzzy feelings about farm animals, the truth is that they are animals with a thin veneer of "domestication". Each of the species has its own typical instincts and behaviors which cannot be or never has been bred out of them.

I lost a childhood friend in high school to a horse he was riding. He'd owned and ridden the horse for years. One day the horse decided to take him under a tree at a full gallop and it broke his neck when his head hit a tree branch. I've owned horses for over 60 years and I never walk behind a horse close enough for the horse to kick me.

Please understand that I mean no disrespect, but I feel compelled to say that there is a lot more to this story. Yes, "animals" can be killers, but they cannot even come close to the level of malicious killings performed by humans.

It is important to understand that "farm animals" were either born into or captured and forced into a life of slavery. There used to be a time when human slavery was a common thing (actually human slavery still exists in some parts of the world). During that time and for some time after, many humans believed the same thing about human slaves and/or the common race that was enslaved. I still know people that believe certain races of humans are of thin, savage, animal mind, not to be trusted and are dangerous. That is called racism and I like to believe we all agree that racism is a bad thing. I also believe that speciesism is also a bad thing.

I believe this is due to segregation. Even if segregation is not forced by any government, people segregate themselves. It is easy to form negative conclusions when you do not know all the facts. Life is complicated for all creatures - not just humans. It's easy to decide another's mentality when you don't know them. My family and community was (is) very segregated and deeply bigoted.

No one can know what was in the mind of the horse that ran under the branch. Was it truly malicious? Did the horse expect the rider to duck? Or was it an error or miscalculation? A horses direction is typically controlled by the rider. Did the horse divert against the riders control? Was that a favorite route of the horse? Regardless, it can't be truly known what the horse was thinking. We can only guess. I have witnessed many times when a horse that didn't want to be ridden would try to drag the rider off by pushing against a fence. I never believed the horse wanted to harm the rider. He/she simply didn't have any more effective way to communicate that he/she didn't want to be ridden - and probably knew that his/her desire didn't matter as he/she would not be offered the choice anyway.

I am responding to this because it is an intense PTSD trigger for me. (I suffer an extreme PTSD regarding incidents involving my best fiends.) I suffer from chronic social anxiety. Turns out it's human social anxiety. I spent almost my entire childhood (11 years) back in those fields and especially in the deep ravines of the abandoned gravel quarry. (See my post above in this same thread.) Turns out, I never feel any social anxiety or loneliness with all the wildlife and livestock living there. I have always felt lonely in the company of other humans. Spending all the days, months and years of my childhood there with all the "animals" has given me a very different perspective, understanding and respect. I got to know them on a personal friendship level. I have never been able to do that with a human. My perspective is just too different and human society is intolerant to different perspectives. I always knew my cows, horses, etc. friends. would never harm me. They knew me and they saw me. They accepted me. They were free to or not to be my friend. It was entirely their choice. There was no society requirements. There were no leashes, ropes or any form of containment. I never made any requirements of them. Though it was never needed, I feel confident any one of them would have acted to protect me. What I learned is they are people. But, we can never see that as long as we are segregated and are masters or owners, etc.

Sorry. I had to get this out. I'm sure no one will agree and I mean no disrespect. I just had to get it off my chest.