# cow question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394 "2005-01-12T15:15:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shh\_psst\_cmere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@shh\_psst\_cmere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh_psst_cmere)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/1 "2005-01-12T15:15:06Z")
I just witnessed all the cattle in the field next to mine running in the same direction!! I mean all of them!! I had never witnessed that before. Does it have some meaning? By the way, new here …so please excuse if I screw up. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/2 "2005-01-12T15:15:40Z")
Was it feeding time? ---
**Author:** ![shh\_psst\_cmere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@shh\_psst\_cmere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh_psst_cmere)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/3 "2005-01-12T15:18:59Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Was it feeding time? nope …they weren’t heading toward the barn …or their feeders …just up the hill ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/4 "2005-01-12T15:26:58Z")
When you say ‘all’ are we talking dozens or hundreds? Cause I’m with Nametag on the feeding time training. My dad raised Black Angus and we could enter the pasture on foot from the woodlot on the back side after going hunting and when the herd saw us they came running. And since they are herd animals, a couple getting the idea pretty much means they are all going to do it. Maybe the farmer was doing something on the property and they noticed him and hoped for some food. -rainy ---
**Author:** ![shh\_psst\_cmere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@shh\_psst\_cmere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh_psst_cmere)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/5 "2005-01-12T15:29:03Z")
Maybe so…I have lived here for over a year and never noticed this before not like this anyway …there are about 20 cows I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/6 "2005-01-12T15:38:26Z")
Lot of time spent on Angus farms here. Feeding time maybe. Yes they will move in formation for that, but it’s more of an amble. I’ll bet something spooked them. One or two jumped and it’s a chain reaction. Either that or they recoginized the Vet’s truck pull in and realize it’s time for shots or preg checking! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/7 "2005-01-12T15:39:41Z")
Their stomach magnets keep them all pointed in the same direction. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/8 "2005-01-12T16:06:54Z")
Maybe they were part of the great Porcupine Angus herd attempting to migrate? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/9 "2005-01-12T18:59:52Z")
Don’t worry about it. Their Delta force was merely engaging in training maneuvers in preparation for Phase Alpha of Operation Herd-One. I was never here. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/10 "2005-01-12T20:42:27Z")
Up a hill? Could be a tsunami is on the way. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/11 "2005-01-12T21:01:00Z")
> [@shh\_psst\_cmere](#): > > I just witnessed all the cattle in the field next to mine running in the same direction!! I mean all of them!! I had never witnessed that before. Panic attack result of being spooked. When faced with a choice of flee or fight cows always choose flight. The city boy was visiting his farm cousin. As they crossed a field the farm boy screamed, "RUN, here come the “Bulls.” The city boy said, “Stand Your Ground, we ain’t done nothin.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![TheInterruptingCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9c0ed/32.png) [@TheInterruptingCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInterruptingCow)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/12 "2005-01-12T22:56:53Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Don’t worry about it. Their Delta force was merely engaging in training maneuvers in preparation for Phase Alpha of Operation Herd-One. > > I was never here. I, for one, welcome…well, of course I do. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/13 "2005-01-12T23:24:14Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > When faced with a choice of flee or fight cows always choose flight. Incorrect. Particularly if they’re uncut adult males, or females with young offspring. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/14 "2005-01-12T23:33:05Z")
It’s simple. Cows school. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/15 "2005-01-12T23:41:24Z")
REVELATION OF GRAND IMPORTANCE!!! Cows are the secret overlords of the world. They do things like that as a scientific evaluation of human society. The part about the Big Macs is just a clever ruse. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/16 "2005-01-13T00:33:37Z")
Could there have been some herding dogs that you couldn’t see, who were–as it were–_guiding_ the cows? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/17 "2005-01-13T00:56:41Z")
The alpha cow was coming out here to California. The rest were just following. Instinct, you see. Sometimes if a cow is calving (is that the right word?), the others want to see. Really. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/18 "2005-01-13T05:17:41Z")
My fella hunts at a ranch his stepbrother runs. Whenever they see my boyfriend’s truck driving along the land, they start coming after him. Apparently they think every truck=food. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/19 "2005-01-13T08:02:22Z")
Was there a bull in the other direction? ---
**Author:** ![blackhobyah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blackhobyah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blackhobyah)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394/20 "2005-01-13T10:56:46Z")
Cows are both herd animals and possessed of vast curiosity. All it would take would be for one cow to find something interesting and head off toward it, and all the other cows would follow. They might have got a fright, and one cow runs they all run, or they might just have found something interesting or edible. The group of young Hereford in the paddock on one side of my property used to rush to the fence to watch me walking my dogs … they’ve got used to us now and are more inclined toamble over for a look than run. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-question/284394.md?page=2)