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Given the chance, cows can be civic minded and mobilize to aid the police ...
Bovine bust: Police chase in Wisconsin ends with cattle blocking vehicle

The Barron County, Wisconsin, sheriff's office and police department had assistance from an unexpected group early Tuesday during a chase.

According to a post from the sheriff's office, deputies were assisting police during a 13-mile pursuit ...

The chase ended on a farm when the suspect vehicle was blocked by a group of cattle.

"We would be remiss if we didn't thank the Barron County Bovine Unit for jumping into the fray when the vehicle came into their patrol area," the post stated.

The post also stated no humans or cattle were hurt during the incident ...
FULL STORY: https://kstp.com/minnesota-news/bar...se-ends-on-farm-cattle-block-vehicle/6127382/
 
Breed 'em for small brains!

Compare a wild boar with a domestic pig and you may notice a few key differences, including the fact that the pig will likely have a smaller head—and brain—than the boar. Scientists have known for decades that domesticated animals like sheep, pigs, cats, and dogs have smaller brains than their wild counterparts—part of what scientists refer to as “domestication syndrome.” Now, the first large-sale study of brain sizes across cattle breeds reveals a new wrinkle: Breeds that tolerate more interaction with humans have smaller brains than those that live more independent lives.

Cattle were first domesticated from bison-size animals called aurochs (Bos primigenius) in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, part of a wave of livestock domestication that included pigs, sheep, and goats. To find out how the brains of aurochs—which went extinct some 400 years ago—compared with those of their domesticated descendants, paleontologist Ana Balcarcel of the University of Zurich and colleagues used computerized tomography to scan 13 auroch skulls from museum collections across Europe. Next, they scanned the skulls of 317 cows and bulls, also from museum collections, representing 71 different breeds from around the world. They also measured the muzzle width of the skulls to estimate overall body size.

Then the researchers used their scans to calculate average brain size, relative to body size, for wild versus domestic cattle. Following the pattern of other animals that have undergone domestication, they found that the domesticated animals had brains about 25% smaller than their wild forebears, the researchers report today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/06/tamer-cow-smaller-brain
 
Breed 'em for small brains!

Compare a wild boar with a domestic pig and you may notice a few key differences, including the fact that the pig will likely have a smaller head—and brain—than the boar. Scientists have known for decades that domesticated animals like sheep, pigs, cats, and dogs have smaller brains than their wild counterparts—part of what scientists refer to as “domestication syndrome.” Now, the first large-sale study of brain sizes across cattle breeds reveals a new wrinkle: Breeds that tolerate more interaction with humans have smaller brains than those that live more independent lives.

Cattle were first domesticated from bison-size animals called aurochs (Bos primigenius) in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, part of a wave of livestock domestication that included pigs, sheep, and goats. To find out how the brains of aurochs—which went extinct some 400 years ago—compared with those of their domesticated descendants, paleontologist Ana Balcarcel of the University of Zurich and colleagues used computerized tomography to scan 13 auroch skulls from museum collections across Europe. Next, they scanned the skulls of 317 cows and bulls, also from museum collections, representing 71 different breeds from around the world. They also measured the muzzle width of the skulls to estimate overall body size.

Then the researchers used their scans to calculate average brain size, relative to body size, for wild versus domestic cattle. Following the pattern of other animals that have undergone domestication, they found that the domesticated animals had brains about 25% smaller than their wild forebears, the researchers report today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/06/tamer-cow-smaller-brain
Kind of makes sense, domesticated animals dont have to think as much for themselves when it comes to looking for food, shelter, a mate etc...
 
Could be what they are feeding cows these days, think mad cow disease,
or pumping them full of steroids'.
 
Breed 'em for small brains!

Absolutely! we've selected for non-horneriness. Although I add that in my experience proper Highland Cows must be channeling Stephen Hawkins!

Highland Cow.png
 
Kind of makes sense, domesticated animals dont have to think as much for themselves when it comes to looking for food, shelter, a mate etc...
Also they don't need to problem-solve in domestic life as they would in the wild. But then, we rarely get to see just how intelligent farm animals are - they are just these big blobs of potential meat/milk/wool lumbering around fields. I bet, if they teamed up, they could do the Times Crossword...
 
A mate had a 3 legged ram called Chop, he acted just like a dog would follow you about
and would try to join in anything going on, was working on something or other and heard
this twang twang from the back of my Land rover, went round the back and Chop was stretching
a bungee cord from the back letting it go then repeat.
My mate would get a call from the local cops, can you please go and get your sheep it's chasing
the local dogs all over the village, my mate would drive round call Chop and he would hop into
the back of the car for the ride home, a very odd Sheep indeed was Chop, he had a long and
happy life dying from a heart attack several years later.
 
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Just been watching Midsummer Murders were someone attempted murder by cows,
surprisingly for that program they failed.
 
Did they want to stay out all night? Or what? It seems like they'd feel safer indoors, but I have no experience so request your opinion, Colonel Z.
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Sorry for taking almost two years to reply to your post @IbisNibs but I've been away from the forum for a long while. Only just returned today. I only hope that my reply will have been worth the wait!

The incident I referred to above occurred with what was definitely the wildest and most frightened cow I ever had the misfortune of owning. Perhaps it had been badly treated on the last farm it was part of it but it had a very nervous and excitable disposition. It was the type of cow that would go through hedges and fences rather than be brought into a house. It jumped gates and pens with ease. Cows are always suspicious of being brought in during the spring and summer months when they are grazing outside in the fields. I suppose it must understandably seem rather counterintuitive to them. It can mean one of only three things; either a cattle test such as TB and brucellosis, a visit from the dreaded vet for some other reason or being loaded on to a cattle trailer to be sold or taken elsewhere. As you might appreciate, cattle are very determined to avoid all of these eventualities so a return to their houses is to be avoided at all costs. They're also reluctant to return to the houses when it's clearly grazing outside time and they've spent the whole winter locked up inside a comparatively dark and dingy house eating hay or silage and not lovely sweet green grass. Hence, they invariably give their owners the run-around and refuse to go through the gate into the yard and the awaiting house and whatever horror that will inevitably entail. Cows are a lot smarter and indeed crafter than people give them credit for. At least that's been my experience of keeping cattle in the past, for what it's worth.
 
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Sorry for taking almost two years to reply to your post @IbisNibs but I've been away from the forum for a long while. Only just returned today. I only hope that my reply will have been worth the wait!

The incident I referred to above occurred with what was definitely the wildest and most frightened cow I ever had the misfortune of owning. Perhaps it had been badly treated on the last farm it was part of it but it had a very nervous and excitable disposition. It was the type of cow that would go through hedges and fences rather than be brought into a house. It jumped gates and pens with ease. Cows are always suspicious of being brought in during the spring and summer months when they are grazing outside in the fields. I suppose it must understandably seem rather counterintuitive to them. It can mean one of only three things; either a cattle test such as TB and brucellosis, a visit from the dreaded vet for some other reason or being loaded on to a cattle trailer to be sold or taken elsewhere. As you might appreciate, cattle are very determined to avoid all of these eventualities so a return to their houses is to be avoided at all costs. They're also reluctant to return to the houses when it's clearly grazing outside time and they've spent the whole winter locked up inside a comparatively dark and dingy house eating hay or silage and not lovely sweet green grass. Hence, they invariably give their owners the run-around and refuse to go through the gate into the yard and the awaiting house and whatever horror that will inevitably entail. Cows are a lot smarter and indeed crafter than people give them credit for. At least that's been my experience of keeping cattle in the past, for what it's worth.
Just as a point of curiosity, have you noticed any difference in the temperaments of various breeds of cattle? I've heard beef farmers say that they prefer to raise Herefords because that breed has a reputation for being calm and easy to handle. In comparison, some farmers have described Charolais as 'difficult'. I wonder if the breed of the excitable cow might have been a factor in her behaviour.
 
200 Rampaging Cows on Housing Estate


Doesn't say where this happened.
short cctv video.
Chester! Upton to be specific, near the zoo.

https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/bizarre-moment-herd-cows-invade-20980546

"Lucy added: "I have only had my new car a week and the cows were all over it absolutely covered it in mess- we had to take all three cars to the car wash. Muck everywhere, on the driveway, garage doors even up the front door.

"When we looked back on the camera you could actually see the one cow jumping over the front of my car which has unfortunately left damage." As it would...
 
Just as a point of curiosity, have you noticed any difference in the temperaments of various breeds of cattle? I've heard beef farmers say that they prefer to raise Herefords because that breed has a reputation for being calm and easy to handle. In comparison, some farmers have described Charolais as 'difficult'. I wonder if the breed of the excitable cow might have been a factor in her behaviour.

Yes, the breeds of the cattle definitely are a factor in temperament. Speaking as a UK citizen the perception of my late father and others was that the cattle from continental Europe such as Charolais were more temperamental, mad-headed and fiesty than breeds from the UK. Of course not every cow from those types of breeds displayed those characteristics but they certainly had that reputation.

The cow that tried to attack me with its head was black and therefore an Aberdeen Angus which are generally a much calmer and more pleasant cow. Like I said, there are exceptions to every rule and the breed of the cow is only one factor. Upbringing, genetics and how the cow was treated on another farm or farms all have to be considered as well. Mistreatment of cows of course has an effect on their temperament. I had an Aberdeen Angus cow once that you could literally sit on the back of when it was lying down in the field. It was so lovely and calm and docile, so it just goes to show how different cattle can be even within the same breed!
 
Yes, the breeds of the cattle definitely are a factor in temperament. Speaking as a UK citizen the perception of my late father and others was that the cattle from continental Europe such as Charolais were more temperamental, mad-headed and fiesty than breeds from the UK. Of course not every cow from those types of breeds displayed those characteristics but they certainly had that reputation.

The cow that tried to attack me with its head was black and therefore an Aberdeen Angus which are generally a much calmer and more pleasant cow. Like I said, there are exceptions to every rule and the breed of the cow is only one factor. Upbringing, genetics and how the cow was treated on another farm or farms all have to be considered as well. Mistreatment of cows of course has an effect on their temperament. I had an Aberdeen Angus cow once that you could literally sit on the back of when it was lying down in the field. It was so lovely and calm and docile, so it just goes to show how different cattle can be even within the same breed!
Thank you for your reply, Zographos. I've heard similar comments from beef farmers about the temperaments of British cattle breeds vs. those from continental Europe. Of course, each animal is an individual with its own history, as you say.
 
Charolais, temperamental? They're French—you can't expect anything different, hein?
Don't let that Laughing Cow fool you.
vache.jpg
 
Thank you for your reply, Zographos. I've heard similar comments from beef farmers about the temperaments of British cattle breeds vs. those from continental Europe. Of course, each animal is an individual with its own history, as you say.

My pleasure, @GingerTabby.

I'm pretty sure I heard my late father say that the temperamental continental European breeds matched the more temperamental, expressive and gesticulating French farmers who reared them. It's probably racist to say that aloud nowadays but maybe there is something in it from the nature versus nurture point of view! It all comes back to each cow being an individual in the end analysis but undoubtedly some breeds appear to be more susceptible to nervous, excitable and aggressive behaviour than others. So, to be diplomatic, you could say it's part nature and part nurture. Just like humans really, come to think of it. No one is born evil. They're made that way by various factors such as how they're brought up, where they're brought up, how they're treated by others in the big bad world etc. Cows are no different.
 
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See this was murder: initially knocked to the ground by the herd before one turned and ran back towards him, delivering a fatal blow to his chest. The cow thought no was looking, they really act like the cows in The Far Side.

A teacher died after being crushed by a herd of cows while out walking his dogs, an inquest heard.

David Clark, 59, was walking through a field in Richmond, North Yorkshire, in September when the incident happened. The married father-of-three was initially knocked to the ground by the herd before one turned and ran back towards him, delivering a fatal blow to his chest, the inquest heard.

An inquest jury returned a conclusion of accidental death.

Mr Clark, who was the deputy head of Richmond School and a former Scotland Under-21 rugby player, was attacked while walking his two dogs on 21 September.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-57999964
 
See this was murder: initially knocked to the ground by the herd before one turned and ran back towards him, delivering a fatal blow to his chest. The cow thought no was looking, they really act like the cows in The Far Side.

A teacher died after being crushed by a herd of cows while out walking his dogs, an inquest heard.

David Clark, 59, was walking through a field in Richmond, North Yorkshire, in September when the incident happened. The married father-of-three was initially knocked to the ground by the herd before one turned and ran back towards him, delivering a fatal blow to his chest, the inquest heard.

An inquest jury returned a conclusion of accidental death.

Mr Clark, who was the deputy head of Richmond School and a former Scotland Under-21 rugby player, was attacked while walking his two dogs on 21 September.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-57999964
A disgruntled ex-pupil reincarnated as a cow maybe?
 
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