Can there be such a thing as cow boredom?
I have a special fondness for cows. My grandparents were dairy farmers, so as a child I had ample opportunity to watch cows’ inaction. And no, that is not a typo. Once you get beyond the constant chewing and tail switching along with their incredibly large and friendly looking (think oversized dog) tongue that likes to snake out and wrap around the top of their nose, they just don’t do much.
Oh sure, they make a mean cow pie. And, if you catch them in a rare frisky moment, they can and do generate laughs as they gambol about with endearingly awkward abandon (video). But on the whole, the placidity with which they spend their days ambling around, eating and re-chewing grass (they have that whole second stomach regurgitation thing going on) or just staring off into the distance — is nothing short of nap inducing.
So, watching this video came as something of a surprise:
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I didn’t remember the cows of my childhood as being quite so curious. My first thought was to shrug off this curiosity of the musician playing as just being a “musical thing”. Or a peculiar sort of “these cows” thing.
Then I saw this video:
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And yeah, this could just be a dog thing. Or a “these cows” thing. Or a “this dog looks like a small calf ” thing…
But I’m beginning to wonder. Could my childish memories be all wrong? Could I have actually misread these seemingly curious creatures? Could it be that the serene disinterest shown me by the cows of my childhood was due to my inability to measure up to their entertainment standards?
Could I have been the cause of cow boredom?
How humbling!
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I loved both video’s. I don’t think could be boring to anyone even a cow:-)
I have cows all around me and don’t grow attached because I’m in cattle country and they will be on a dinner plate next year. Now it will only be harder to see them grow because I know there’s a little something more behind those sad eyes.
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I totally understand the need of farmers to consider farm animals as a product – their “live” stock. But yeah, I don’t think I could look them in the eye if I was raising them for slaughter. I’m not vegan by any means, but I could easily give up my meat before my vegetables. So if they start finding signs of intelligent life in plants I don’t want to know!
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That’s nice to see. When I was in my 20’s, I visited my parents, and walked a few miles through rural english countryside to and from a small nightclub. On the way back at maybe 2am or so, I was walking by a fence and noticed a cow staring at me. I turned, and the cow and I just stared at each other, and I have no idea how long for either. I think I mind-melded with it or something, but it was a profound human-cow experience I’d recommend to anybody.
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Wow! A cow epiphany! I’d laugh that off as the effects of the alcohol you consumed, but I’ve always felt like Horses could see into our souls.
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How delightful!
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Aren’t they! Thanks for visiting! You need to make a video of your duck Tapper doing his pirouettes!
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