Julian Oliver

I grew up in a farming community & while I never saw cows scratch their backs with a broom, it does not surprise me that they would learn, if left with one and living long enough (they don't live long).

There were always stories of cows trying to hide their calves from farmers wanting to take them away, or taking opportunities to quietly escape.

"Perhaps the real absurdity lies not in imagining a tool-using cow, but in assuming such a thing could never exist.”"

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jan/19/back-scratching-cow-veronika-bovine-intelligence

Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows

Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in different ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees

The Guardian
Jan 19 at 9:59pmWeb
Show threadAGF : poemproducerJan 19
@JulianOliver omg hiding their calves 😭😭😭😭
Show threadJim DalyJan 19
@poemproducer All prey animals do this to one degree or another. @JulianOliver
Show threadJulian OliverJan 19
@psneeze @poemproducer And as we do, when preyed upon.
Show threadJim DalyJan 19
@JulianOliver @poemproducer True
Show threadJulian OliverJan 19

@poemproducer Cows would often call all night after their calves are taken away. Such a lonely sound.

As a kid I would feed the male calves in the cage at the bustop grass, before going to school. Huddled together, big-eyed with worry. The cage was empty coming back from school. They soon became the 'veal' at the supermarket.

Not exactly the hashtag farmlife people want to hear!

Show threadReimarJan 19
@JulianOliver https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tools
Cow tools - Wikipedia