4 ms·

Electric fences only encourage containment with our cows (Highlands). One of our bulls steps between the wires and lets the fence shock him on the back for minu

Electric fences only encourage containment with our cows (Highlands). One of our bulls steps between the wires and lets the fence shock him on the back for minutes on end with him only moving slightly to reposition the shock. I think he is doing his own TENS treatment for a sore back. I really need to record him doing that one day.

sandworm101 6y ago
There is footage out there somewhere (1980s) of a cop using a tazer on a bull that got away from a rodeo. The bull just looks quietly at him as if to say "Um, you talkin to me?". Then a cowboy, on a horse, lassoes the bull and walks it back into the stadium.
- dtech 6y ago
  Bovine hide is a lot thicker than human skin. The probes probably didn't penetrate.
  - pradn 6y ago
    In South Asia, bull herders often have nails at the end of their herding poles. I asked my grandfather if it hurts the bull, and he said, "of course not, they have thick skin".
    - buran77 6y ago
      While the skin is undoubtedly thicker, the "of course not" may also be based on a misconception and/or generalization. The same kind of misconception alive today even in doctors when it comes to the skin and pain tolerance of black people, for example.
      - buran77 6y ago
        Not sure if this got downvoted to hell because I mentioned the well documented and studied misconception many medical students and doctors have wrongly believing black people have thicker skin and higher pain tolerance [0], or for challenging the "thoroughly" studied statement that "of course poking bulls with nails doesn't hurt them" [1]. If causing discomfort is not the purpose of a herding tool it makes you wonder why they don't use softer implements... [0] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-differences-doctors.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/raci... [1]
    - ethbr0 6y ago
      I asked my dad (a practicing large animal vet at one point) if there was an equivalent to petting dogs... for cows. He thought about it for a minute and said, "Well, I knew a farmer once who scratched their backs with a garden rake. They seemed to like it." That put cow hide in context in a way other things didn't.
      - sjg007 6y ago
        There are cow back scratchers, it’s a thing. They will rub up against trees too. My dog use to roll her back on top of a tennis ball. Smart dog.
        unwind 6y ago
        There are electric rotary cow brushes, that auto-start on touch by the cow. They swing around on an arm so the cow can control where it is being scratched. Very common in e.g. Sweden as far as I know. See for instance products by DeLaval [1]. [1] https://www.delaval.com/en-us/our-solutions/cow-comfort/cow-brushes/ https://www.delaval.com/en-us/our-solutions/cow-comfort/cow-...
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  You might be interested in this story of Henry Harpending going on a buffalo hunt in south Africa: https://web.archive.org/web/20170105231156/http://the10000yearexplosion.com/henry-and-the-cape-buffalo/ https://web.archive.org/web/20170105231156/http://the10000ye... It's very funny throughout, but here's the buffalo being repeatedly shot with a rifle: > I aimed and fired. “Bang-whump”, the bang from the rifle and the whump as the bullet struck the buffalo. He jerked a little, then simply stood there staring at me. “Bang-whump, bang-whump” as I fired two more rounds. > Now he tossed his head and snorted, then started running toward us. Buffalo charge with their nose high, only lowering their head to use their horns on contact. I fired one more round at the charging animal, head on, simply pointing at him because he was so close, then turned and ran. We discovered later that the bullet had struck his shoulder, ricocheted off his scapula, and exited through the skin on his side. It certainly didn’t slow him down at all: I might as well have been shooting at a railroad locomotive.
  - chiph 6y ago
    My brother-in-law lives on the coast and had some property on an inlet. An alligator started hanging around and was getting too close to the children. He consulted with one of the local game wardens who told him "If there are kids threatened, go ahead and shoot it" (this was outside of hunting season) So the following weekend he was in an aluminum jon-boat with an AK-47 waiting for it to surface (I swear he's not a redneck). When it did, he fired a round, hitting it in the skull. But that didn't kill it, so he emptied the magazine into it and that did it in. He found the skull at low tide several months later after the crabs had picked it clean. The AK round had ricocheted off the bone, leaving a divot behind. They're tough creatures.

sandworm101 6y ago

There is footage out there somewhere (1980s) of a cop using a tazer on a bull that got away from a rodeo. The bull just looks quietly at him as if to say "Um, you talkin to me?". Then a cowboy, on a horse, lassoes the bull and walks it back into the stadium.

dtech 6y ago
Bovine hide is a lot thicker than human skin. The probes probably didn't penetrate.
- pradn 6y ago
  In South Asia, bull herders often have nails at the end of their herding poles. I asked my grandfather if it hurts the bull, and he said, "of course not, they have thick skin".
  - buran77 6y ago
    While the skin is undoubtedly thicker, the "of course not" may also be based on a misconception and/or generalization. The same kind of misconception alive today even in doctors when it comes to the skin and pain tolerance of black people, for example.
    - buran77 6y ago
      Not sure if this got downvoted to hell because I mentioned the well documented and studied misconception many medical students and doctors have wrongly believing black people have thicker skin and higher pain tolerance [0], or for challenging the "thoroughly" studied statement that "of course poking bulls with nails doesn't hurt them" [1]. If causing discomfort is not the purpose of a herding tool it makes you wonder why they don't use softer implements... [0] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-differences-doctors.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/raci... [1]
  - ethbr0 6y ago
    I asked my dad (a practicing large animal vet at one point) if there was an equivalent to petting dogs... for cows. He thought about it for a minute and said, "Well, I knew a farmer once who scratched their backs with a garden rake. They seemed to like it." That put cow hide in context in a way other things didn't.
    - sjg007 6y ago
      There are cow back scratchers, it’s a thing. They will rub up against trees too. My dog use to roll her back on top of a tennis ball. Smart dog.
      - unwind 6y ago
        There are electric rotary cow brushes, that auto-start on touch by the cow. They swing around on an arm so the cow can control where it is being scratched. Very common in e.g. Sweden as far as I know. See for instance products by DeLaval [1]. [1] https://www.delaval.com/en-us/our-solutions/cow-comfort/cow-brushes/ https://www.delaval.com/en-us/our-solutions/cow-comfort/cow-...
thaumasiotes 6y ago
You might be interested in this story of Henry Harpending going on a buffalo hunt in south Africa: https://web.archive.org/web/20170105231156/http://the10000yearexplosion.com/henry-and-the-cape-buffalo/ https://web.archive.org/web/20170105231156/http://the10000ye... It's very funny throughout, but here's the buffalo being repeatedly shot with a rifle: > I aimed and fired. “Bang-whump”, the bang from the rifle and the whump as the bullet struck the buffalo. He jerked a little, then simply stood there staring at me. “Bang-whump, bang-whump” as I fired two more rounds. > Now he tossed his head and snorted, then started running toward us. Buffalo charge with their nose high, only lowering their head to use their horns on contact. I fired one more round at the charging animal, head on, simply pointing at him because he was so close, then turned and ran. We discovered later that the bullet had struck his shoulder, ricocheted off his scapula, and exited through the skin on his side. It certainly didn’t slow him down at all: I might as well have been shooting at a railroad locomotive.
- chiph 6y ago
  My brother-in-law lives on the coast and had some property on an inlet. An alligator started hanging around and was getting too close to the children. He consulted with one of the local game wardens who told him "If there are kids threatened, go ahead and shoot it" (this was outside of hunting season) So the following weekend he was in an aluminum jon-boat with an AK-47 waiting for it to surface (I swear he's not a redneck). When it did, he fired a round, hitting it in the skull. But that didn't kill it, so he emptied the magazine into it and that did it in. He found the skull at low tide several months later after the crabs had picked it clean. The AK round had ricocheted off the bone, leaving a divot behind. They're tough creatures.