Cows - Again

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You probably think I’ve got a thing about cows, considering the images in my blogs and my book – "Only one cow". By the way, if you haven’t got a copy of it, contact me and I will rectify the matter.

Actually, I do like cows. I find them strange animals. They appear dumb, which they are. Apart from the odd moo, that is. Yet I think they may be far more insightful than we think. Those huge docile eyes probably see more than we do. And they can stand for hours simply ruminating – chewing the cud you may call it. What might they be thinking of?

These days, their focus is probably on Foot and Mouth disease and how the humans have stuffed it all up. A crisis, it’s said, that may have brought the Democratic Alliance party to its knees. And what we’ve done, apart from condemning thousands of cloven hoof animals to an early death, is provide devastation for farmers, grief to consumers and a strain on our fragile economy.

All because of a cow?

Then again, I think they may calmly observe life and simply marvel. Once, driving along the N2, I passed a herd of them, all staring down the road. As I approached a corner, I came upon an accident. Evidently what they’d been starting at while contemplating, no doubt, the strange behaviour of humans.

But today’s image pricked my imagination. Were the cows wandering along a path in the dry pan when a sudden flash flood filled it up? Had they determined that the quickest way to the greener grass next to the fence was through the dam? Were they cooling their calves (pun intended), scorched by the hot sand? Or were they merely bonding with a school of catfish?

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Only the cows know.

PS Please don’t tell them I love a good steak.

And here's a bonus pic to prove I don't only like one cow.