Cows Hold Grudges

[Merika]

Guess I've pissed off alot of cows.....LOL! Geez...first they take away my Roadkill Gummy Candy....and now they are trying to get my STEAK TOO!

Cows hold grudges, say scientists
By Jonathan Leake
February 28, 2005
From:

ONCE they were a byword for mindless docility. But cows have a complex mental life in which they bear grudges, nurture friendships and become excited by intellectual challenges, researchers have found.

Cows are capable of strong emotions such as pain, fear and even anxiety about the future. But if farmers provide the right conditions, they can also feel great happiness.
The findings have emerged from studies of farm animals that have found similar traits in pigs, goats and chickens. They suggest such animals may be so emotionally similar to humans that welfare laws need to be reconsidered.

The research will be presented to a conference in London next month sponsored by animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming.

Christine Nicol, professor of animal welfare at Britain's Bristol University, said even chickens might have to be treated as individuals with needs and problems.

"Remarkable cognitive abilities and cultural innovations have been revealed," she said. "Our challenge is to teach others that every animal we intend to eat or use is a complex individual, and to adjust our farming culture accordingly."

Her colleague John Webster added: "People have assumed intelligence is linked to the ability to suffer, and that because animals have smaller brains they suffer less than humans. That is a pathetic piece of logic."

The Bristol researchers have documented how cows within a herd form friendship groups of between two and four animals with whom they spend most of their time, often grooming and licking each other. They will also dislike other cows, and can bear grudges for months or years.

Donald Broom, professor of animal welfare at Cambridge University, will tell the conference how cows can become excited by solving intellectual challenges.

In one study, researchers challenged the animals with a task where they had to find how to open a door to get some food. An electroencephalograph was used to measure their brainwaves.

"The brainwaves showed their excitement; their heartbeat went up and some even jumped into the air. We called it their Eureka moment," Professor Broom said.

The assumption that farm animals cannot suffer from conditions that would be intolerable for humans is partly based on the idea they have no sense of self. Latest research suggests this is untrue.

"Sentient animals have the capacity to experience pleasure and are motivated to seek it," Professor Webster said.

"You only have to watch how cows and lambs both seek and enjoy pleasure when they lie with their heads raised to the sun on a perfect English summer's day. Just like humans."

Link: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...-13762,00.html

[Merika]

BTW: My Dad raised lots of cows and they don't HAVE any damn sense!

[Duke]

Great, now I have to deal with the fact that my food might be smarter than I am, damn.

[Merika]

I think you are still safe.......

[alkali]

You shootem in the brain, hangem, butcherem...it's real life so enjoy the steak. These are the same folks that claim my tomatos cry when i slice them.

[Duke]

Did you ever hear the experiment that proved lettuce had feelings? Apparently they had this head of lettuce all hooked up to monitor it's responses to certain stimuli. Well, one experiment had another head of lettuce sitting right next to it. They had a few people enter and leave the room, one of them was supposed to hack the other head of lettuce in half.

I guess later on they have the same people walk in the room close to the electroded lettuce one by one and there was no response until the guy walked in that hacked up the other head of lettuce. Apparently the monitor spiked up and down heavily and they concluded that the lettuce actually could sense the butcher. I can't remember what program I was watching that told the story but it was pretty fascinating.

[Merika]

I'm with Alkali....their pain in my gain. I believe in the Donner Theory...if it's between me and someone else....someone else is going down. LOL!

Years ago, I remember they did studies on houseplants......which 'proved' if you sang to them or talked to them...they grew better. I guess all of that could very well be true....but personally.....I just don't care.

[RandomSkater]

There's a show called "mythbusters" where they take myths nad try to prove them. One time they secluded plants in different places and for 4 weeks they yelled at some, said nice things to some, played classical music to some and played heavy metal to some. There was little difference between them but the heavy metal ones were a little bigger. I believe they were using tomatos.

[Stone]

:? I refuse to eat pork because someone once told me that Pigs had the same IQ as a 4 year old child so everytime I am tempted to eat one I have this crazy image of a toddler with an apple in it's mouth I would really like to be a vegitarian but I can't change my eating habits right now, plus I will have to learn how to be a better cook before I do that.

[Merika]

I think you are right Random.....most of the stuff people come up with is totally ridiculous.

Ahhh....sorry about that SH. After seafood, pork is my next favorite.

[Star]

we raised pigs for food a few years ago. all they do is dig with their snouts and eat 24/7 and they stink to high heaven. They are very cute when they're piglets but can be extremely dangerous grown.

Hubby would be the only one going into that pen to feed them when they got bigger.

Pork is one of my favorite meats to eat.

These things they study with plants and veggies is rediculous. if we listened to everything they said, we wouldn't have any food to eat at all because according to them, everything has feelings.

after reading the part about the lettuce; i'll be thinking about that the next time I make a salad.

[Merika]

HAHA Star! Until it rolls away when you come towards it with a knife....I wouldn't worry about it!

[Stone]

Well after this post with the PIGS and The COWs I gave my Gyro away and ate a chicken sandwitch instead :? I could care less about a bird

[Duke]

Originally Posted by Merika

I'm with Alkali....their pain in my gain. I believe in the Donner Theory...if it's between me and someone else....someone else is going down. LOL!

Years ago, I remember they did studies on houseplants......which 'proved' if you sang to them or talked to them...they grew better. I guess all of that could very well be true....but personally.....I just don't care.

The study only proved that the carbon monoxide from your breath is what helped the plants, not your angelic voice Merika.

[alkali]

Originally Posted by RandomSkater

There's a show called "mythbusters" where they take myths nad try to prove them. One time they secluded plants in different places and for 4 weeks they yelled at some, said nice things to some, played classical music to some and played heavy metal to some. There was little difference between them but the heavy metal ones were a little bigger. I believe they were using tomatos.

Plants have been noted to experience high growth rates when exposed to low frequencies. Trees around the Navy's ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) Antenna system are an example.

[Duke]

Maybe it's just because there's a higher concentration of birds p00ping on the pole and lines.

[Merika]

No Duke.....we have seagulls which 'fling as they fly'....so to speak! I think there are few people here who haven't been hit at one time or another.

[Duke]

So I guess the moral of the story is, "don't walk around with your mouth open."

[Luba]

Originally Posted by Duke

So I guess the moral of the story is, "don't walk around with your mouth open."

What an interesting thread and it's too bad it ended with that last post! I hope my beloved Dad forgives me for writing this story...he has passed on as I've mentioned before...

I KNOW cows have feelings because my Dad had a way with cows. Now before your mind goes into the gutter...it's not like that at all.

My Dad was a wonderful man but he loved his wine and it did create a lot of unhappiness for the family....BUT I've witnessed him walking home very intoxicated, with a bottle under his arm, stop at the fence and talk to the neighbour's cow....and SHE listened. She really looked like she enjoyed the conversation for she never walked away until he himself left to come home....

That was one of the funny memories I have of Dad when he was intoxicated....

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by Luba

That was one of the funny memories I have of Dad when he was intoxicated....

Now the big question is, why did he talk to the cow?

[Luba]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Now the big question is, why did he talk to the cow?

I will never know the answer to that; perhaps she was the only one that never talked back.

Ah, he was SUCH a good man when he was sober! Everybody loved him then!

[Vautrin]

Perhaps a case of mistaken identity?

[Luba]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Perhaps a case of mistaken identity?

I won't even go there with what I'm thinkin'

[Duke]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Perhaps a case of mistaken identity?

Maybe it was a tragic tale of love that could never be?

I just hope it was a cow and not a bull.

[Luba]

Originally Posted by Duke

Maybe it was a tragic tale of love that could never be?

I just hope it was a cow and not a bull.

I often wonder what went on in my loving Dad's mind when he was intoxicated...he did a lot of strange things then. He was SUCH a great man when he was sober...he was the MOST fun to play cards with!