Questions about cows

[birdling]

Yesterday, I drove past the same field of cows 4 times in an hour and I have some questions that have been puzzling me, if anyone can help?

1. The weather was very, very hot. Full sun. Every time I went past, the cows were standing huddled together in a group in different places in the field. There was no shade in the field (although there might be in other parts, I couldn't see the whole area). Do cows like the sun? Do they get sunstroke/burn? Was the huddling together due to the sun?

2. There was always one cow who wasn't in the group, but standing a few metres away. Was she an outcast? A rebel? The head cow?

3. Many years ago, when I was a student, I was camping in the middle of the countryside next to an archaeological dig I was working on. The was a field of cows next to our campsite. Every night, in the middle of the night the cows would all suddenly thunder down the field to the fence by my tent, all moo really loudly then thunder back up the field again. They would do this at several points during the night. What in earth were they doing????

I really like cows.😁

Horses can too, especially their nose

They're the most dangerous animal in Britain after the tick.

No, no, it’s true. They’re all nuts.

I spent my teens decorated in scratches. I tried to lavish affection on him but he wasn't having it.

A cow broke my finger once. Bastard.

I do kind-of get the cow-love on this thread. They are all god's creatures I suppose. But they scare the hell out of me as a dog walker. I used to be blasé, because I thought all cows were as docile as the dog-habituated cows I encountered on my most frequent walks. But it is all an act. They are steely-eyed killers.

My white cat got skin cancer and had to have his ears removed. Getting suncream on him was a nightmare and he got it again, this time on his nose and that was the end of him 😔.

When we stayed on a farm campsite we saw a cow give birth in a field, no human intervention. There was another cow in with her who moved loudly at us as we watched from over the fence as if she was protecting her vulnerable friend.

I can help with some facts.

Cows don't really like the sun. They get heat stress above about 15'c. They have giant grass fermenting stomachs that head them internally so they don't need external heat. Some farmers will install fans in their shed to help keep them cook and will house them when it's hot. Other farms will pick the coolest option which is sometimes being outside. Ours are currently at the top of the hill where there's sort of a breeze.

When the weather starts to warm up initially they'll stand and spread out but they eventually bunch. Which is actually not all that logical because its probably warmer when they're close together.

Yes the one on her own is probably guarding the herd. You'll normally find a couple stood awake and watching. They're a herd prey species much like others.

Cows are utterly awesome

Oh that's sad 😥😥. I'm really sorry.

I've seen a lot of Stepford cows this afternoon. All more or less identical (from a distance, anyway), standing eating grass, pointing the same way, equally spaced out and all following Commander Cow when she demands they graze in another part of the field. Much like sheep, where one goes, the others follow.

Possibly the same person that advised me to brush my cat’s teeth. 🙄

According to Gary Larson....

Maybe trample on you! Not unheard ( or unherd) of!

I prefer to be on the non-cow side of the fence 😁

Cats can, we used to put sunblock on the nose and ears of our white cat

Our dc used to read to the cows in the field next to our house. Every new library book or school book was read to a very interested audience.

I remember going for a walk during lockdown, up the lane behind my house past a really big field. A cow stood with it's face looking out over the hedge. She steadily watched me come up the lane, kept her eyes on me as I passed, then when I looked back she was still wistfully watching me walk away up the lane. I was the most interesting thing to happen all week I reckon.

There are some highland cows in the new forest and on really hot days there is a specific pond they seek out and spend most of the day up to their chests in the pond. So I guess they must feel the heat.

Surely it's not really true that cows all point in the same direction??!? I know they do that when they are facing down a dangerous predator, such as a chihuahua or an aged Rambler. Or presumably when a farmer shakes a feed bucket. But not all the time? Wouldn't that make it too easy for wolves etc to sneak up behind them??

(I tried to check some local cows for direrctional alignment on my run just now, but there were too many trees in the way.)

This herd of cows are enjoying their music session 😊

It's believed ginger cats have a single brain cell. Not one each, one between all the gingers. All I can say is there is no sign of my ginger having had his turn with it yet.

Depends what they are looking at surely? 😂

And pirouette after midnight

In terms of when you were camping perhaps they were telling you to ‘get out, this is my field’. When we went to collect water we had to walk through fields of cows in Ireland. The cows never approached us and showed no interest but on our way back with full buckets of water in each hand they’d saunter over and push us about trying to spill the water. Which they did of course. Clever cows just having a laugh at our expense 🤣🤣🤣. Just eating grass must be a bit boring

In answer to number three....

Young cattle seem to play at twilight, and will run up and down the field racing each other. Usually one starts it and then they all join in. It's like when puppies and kittens get the zoomies. We see it when we keep calves in the field by the house. It's really cool.

I have never seen adult cattle do it but we aren't often put in the field in the middle of the night. Perhaps if you were camping in the next door field they got spooked by a noise or light and all ran in the same direction, which they would do if something frightened them. Or perhaps the cattle were younger and doing zoomies.