# Cow tipping--real or urban legend? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565 "2003-07-29T01:05:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![teleute12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@teleute12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teleute12)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/21 "2003-07-29T10:28:46Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/22 "2003-07-29T10:30:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > It’s a _fricking_ urband legend. > > [Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62070&highlight=tipping+legend) another thread we did about this. > > It’s always “Well, my cousin said…” or “my uncle told me” or some such. > > If you did it yourself, then speak up and give the details. > > I’ll still call you a liar, unless you pushed poor Bossy over with a Humvee! Well, [here’s yet another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=31941) all about cow tipping, only this one has, by my count, five first-hand accounts of cow-tipping incidents by **vandal, Coldfire, mangeorge, ren,** and **DarkMika** … at least four of whom are still around. Perhaps one of them can assuage your doubts. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/23 "2003-07-29T11:30:12Z")
There’s one way to settle this, we get 4-5 people, some beer and go for it. Now I’m not gonna be the one that kneels behind the cow, I’ll push. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/24 "2003-07-30T00:57:14Z")
I can assure you my account in that other thread was not a joke. As far as I’m concerned, cow tipping is NOT an urban legend. Whether you choose to believe me, whether Dutch cows keel over more easily than American cows, whether I’m Superman for being able to do it all by myself, whether it’s cruel to do so, I’ll leave all of that up to the reader. All I know is my own experience. I succesfully tipped cows on multiple occasions. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/25 "2003-07-30T01:15:51Z")
Thanks, **Coldfire**. I will now admit that I have been wrong to totally doubt the possiblity. While I’m sure that 90% of cow-tipping assertions are still of the “well, my cousin/friend, etc told me…” variety, it can be done. I want **Coldy** on my team at the SD summer olympics. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/26 "2003-07-30T01:30:54Z")
Over in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76991)I posted my own cow tipping experiences and explanations. Cow tipping is joke pulled on city folk, but it also actually does happen among come bored country folk. It is not a difficult thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/27 "2003-07-30T01:37:11Z")
Also, in that thread, ignore the part about “less skittish than a cat”. I have no idea what that means now that I read it again. I must have been fighting off the kids for the puter and confused myself. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/28 "2003-07-30T02:49:08Z")
So, now I have to ask— WHY would anyone decide to actually tip over a cow? **Coldy**. Was this something you heard about and decided that you should do? Why would it occur to a sane person to try this, unless they had heard about the urban legend? **Turbo Dog?** What’s the motivation to a country person? ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/29 "2003-07-30T03:08:11Z")
Just a note of caution in case someone is inspired by this thread to go out and try it tonight. There has been some lose talk about a dairy cow weighting maybe 1000 pounds. A puny little Jersey, maybe, perhaps a somewhat sturdier Brown Swiss, but when you get into heavy duty cows like Holsteins and Milking Shorthorns you are dealing with a massive, though placid , animal. A mature modern Holstein has a head as big and solid as a beer keg and will weigh in at something approaching 1500 pounds. Dairy cows have an exterior that is well armored with hard (and in some places sharp) bones. You can very easily hurt your self screwing around with the beasts whether they fall on you or not. One thing is certain, if the farmer catches you at it you are going to be in a whole world of hurt. A cow is a very expensive piece of equipment. A mature cow with 5 or 6 years of production ahead of her will cost $1200 or more. Anyone who makes his living tending the poor dumb beasts is going to resent anyone who conducts nocturnal equilibrium experiments on them whether for amusement or for scientific knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/30 "2003-07-30T04:30:24Z")
**sam** we didn’t have arcades and malls. We had to provide our own entertainment. Like most UL/RL’s at the time, it was word of mouth. The guy with the hook arm with “parkers” was a real thing. There was no internet at the time. We heard about it from god knows where and decided to try it, it worked and it was funny as hell. A cow yelling moooooooooo as it slowly fell over was an absolute riot. Kids today, and city folk who don’t know what wilderness is beyond vacation brocures and internet stories, can’t comprehend life without MTV, VH1, and cable TV. For me and my friends, cow tipping was a source of occasional entertainment when outside of school, hunting and trapping seasons were closed, and logging was the routine of the day. Driving an hour to get to anything resembling town to see some action was not an option for us. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/31 "2003-07-30T06:31:40Z")
It seems to me that if a cow could be easily tipped over while sleeping standing up it would be quite anti-survival and there might not be any cows. Predators learn their prey’s weaknesses pretty quickly. As one of the correspondents on Cecil’s page said, cows and horse both sleep laying down. They can doze while standing but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/32 "2003-07-30T07:23:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Repeat after me: > > _Cows sleep lying down._ \*\* Not that they sleep on their sides, as cow tipping might allude to. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/33 "2003-07-30T13:41:17Z")
I have to ask-isn’t there a danger of hurting a cow if you do this? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565/34 "2003-07-30T14:00:43Z")
It CAN be done, but it’s hard. This is first hand information. My folks had a herd of Angus and a couple of Holsteins. The Angus were nearly impossible to tip, as they are lower to the ground than the Holsteins are. Also, most of the time, the cows would sleep lying on the ground with their legs folded under them, so the opportunity is fairly rare. They do stand around at night and are in a low state of activity, but not exactly sleep. We did it because we had heard of the UL, though. When I asked older farmers about it, they hadn’t heard of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-real-or-urban-legend/191565.md?page=1)