# Cow tipping **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865 "2006-06-15T21:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/41 "2006-06-16T14:30:30Z")
[QUOTE=VunderBob] However, ‘snipe hunting’ in this sense, means you put the unsuspecting boob in the middle of the woods at night with a flashlight and a paper bag. S/He is supposed to put the bag on it’s side on the ground, shine the light into it, and call out ‘Here snipe snipe snipe’. The birds are supposed to run inside… [/QUOTE] The particulars may vary from place to place, but in any case, the victim is “left holding the bag.” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/42 "2006-06-16T14:32:02Z")
[QUOTE=Bob55] My friend in Alabama says it’s just an excuse to get some sucker out of the car and into a cow field, and then you drive off without him 🙂 [/QUOTE] Even better: get some city kid into a pasture in the middle of the night, running around in the dark with his nice, expensive city kid shoes on… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/43 "2006-06-16T14:38:27Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] I’ve been face to face with cattle, [/QUOTE] I do not intend be dismissive , really. But this sentence seemed so weird to me that I had to mention it. What else ? “I’ve seen an actual flower, and I can tell you they’re really colorful”? I understand that probably plenty of people never have been face to face with cattle. That is, I understand it intellectually. But when you read sentences like that, where cows look like exotic creatures few people ever come to see, it gives it an entirely different twist. It sounds completely surreal to me. 🙂 Sorry for the hijack… ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/44 "2006-06-16T14:57:38Z")
Actually the snipe is where the modern connotation of “sniper” comes from. Due to the snipe’s speed an erratic flight pattern, they were very hard to hunt. Those who actually managed to shoot a few became known as snipers. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/45 "2006-06-16T15:03:22Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Cows are lousy tippers One of my favorite Cecilisms [/QUOTE] Agreed, but I also like the quip in today’s column: **Finally, and I think this applies as much to geopolitical excursions as it does to refrigerators, decide what you want beforehand, then get in and out fast.** ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/46 "2006-06-16T16:18:26Z")
As long as we’re on cow legends, is it true that cows will only walk up stairs and never down, allowing city kids to trap one on the top floor of their school as a senior prank? ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/47 "2006-06-16T16:43:10Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] As long as we’re on cow legends, is it true that cows will only walk up stairs and never down, allowing city kids to trap one on the top floor of their school as a senior prank? [/QUOTE] I’ve never tried to get a cow up or down stairs, but I will say…Give my old man a length of rubber hose, and a cow was going where he wanted it to. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/48 "2006-06-16T17:02:41Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] As long as we’re on cow legends, is it true that cows will only walk up stairs and never down, allowing city kids to trap one on the top floor of their school as a senior prank? [/QUOTE] (Reuters) --In a bizarre evolution of tactics, AlQaeda has claimed responsibility for herding more than 300 cattle up the stairs of the Washington Monument late last night… ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/49 "2006-06-16T20:17:18Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] As long as we’re on cow legends, is it true that cows will only walk up stairs and never down, allowing city kids to trap one on the top floor of their school as a senior prank? [/QUOTE] I saw that on a _Hill Street Blues_ episode, but never heard of it anywhere else. Of course, I haven’t found anything to dispute it either. ---
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/50 "2006-06-16T20:23:09Z")
[QUOTE=VunderBob] There really _IS_ a bird called a snipe, also known as a Virginia Rail. It’s small, fast, has a very long thin beak, and lives in marshy areas. [/QUOTE] [Snipe](http://www.aves.net/ohio-shorebirds/snipe-in-hand.jpg) [Virginia Rail](http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/Photos/Coots_Rails/VIRA_5.jpg) Two different birds. They look kind of similar, but are in different families. The common snipe is a plover while the Viginia Rail is, well, a rail. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/51 "2006-06-16T20:51:23Z")
Or you could just go [goat tipping](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5306665151934403100&q=fainting+goats) and you wouldn’t even have to get your hands dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/52 "2006-06-16T21:07:52Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] I’ve been face to face with cattle [/QUOTE] Just to watch him die? ---
**Author:** ![2MuchTrivia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e9bcb4/32.png) [@2MuchTrivia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2MuchTrivia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/53 "2006-06-16T21:09:23Z")
When I was in the service (USNavy) a snipe was someone in the engineering department… That being said cows are herd animals, used to close quarters to guard against predators, not your typical push over. Never heard of actual cow tipping, but have heard of “knocking the cud out” of calves…this was something like spooking a calf and causing it to loose the sequence of stomach regurgitation. We lost many calves to this until the local feral dogs were taken care of, I don’t know if it was stress or internal injury but they would bloat up and soon drop. No external injuries, just bloating and death. Vaccination and dipping didn’t help, but fencing and eradication of feral dogs did. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/54 "2006-06-16T21:13:09Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] Or you could just go [goat tipping](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5306665151934403100&q=fainting+goats) and you wouldn’t even have to get your hands dirty. [/QUOTE] [_A Christmas Story_] Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense. [/_ACS_] ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/55 "2006-06-16T21:20:13Z")
I accidentally tipped a deer once. There is a zoo near my house with a big deer preserve you can walk around in. You can buy a little bit of food to feed the deer and some of them will come right up to you. I located a friendly herd and fed lots of them for a while right out of my hand. For some reason, I decided to grab a pretty big one and try to hug it. The thing jumped and kind of flipped and landed right on it’s side and then rolled and tried to get back on its feet. There were some other people fairly close by that gave me really dirty looks for smacking a deer around but truth be told, it wasn’t hurt and probably enjoyed the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/56 "2006-06-16T23:54:07Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] There were some other people fairly close by that gave me really dirty looks for smacking a deer around but truth be told, \*\*it wasn’t hurt and probably enjoyed the whole thing.[/\*\*QUOTE] Bolding mine. Sure, that’s what they _all_ say. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/57 "2006-06-17T00:37:25Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] Or you could just go [goat tipping](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5306665151934403100&q=fainting+goats) and you wouldn’t even have to get your hands dirty. [/QUOTE] “With us now is goat lover Donna Hatcher…” Yeah, you could see that reporter trying really hard to keep a straight face. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e480ec/32.png) [@Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/58 "2006-06-17T21:46:57Z")
[QUOTE=Kinthalis] Cows are cute. Instead of trying to tip them over, why don’t people snuggle up to one? I’m starting up a “Hug a cow today” campaign to change young minds! [/QUOTE] I’m wondering how often you’ve been up close and personal to a cow. My definition of cute tends not to include qualities like bad-tempered and flatulent, but different strokes for different folks, I suppose. And I agree with Rhubarb…don’t EVER get between a cow and her calf. I still have the scars from the barbed wire fence to prove just how bad an idea it is. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/59 "2006-06-17T22:05:32Z")
There was another discussion on cow tipping in 2001: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=62070&highlight=tipping](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=62070&highlight=tipping) Summary: Those with a rural background thought that the idea was nuts. One poster suggested that the idea was inspired by the standard treatment for a [Displaced Abomasum](http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/pests/g07701.htm), where the farmer rolls the cow on its back. With help. Personally, I like the snipe hunt explanation. The 2001 thread also includes a link to an earlier SDMB discussion which is no longer available. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865/60 "2006-06-18T09:15:45Z")
[QUOTE=Kinthalis] Cows are cute. Instead of trying to tip them over, why don’t people snuggle up to one? I’m starting up a “Hug a cow today” campaign to change young minds! [/QUOTE] Because cow next to her will put her cold nose on the back of your thigh and then headbutt you in the ribs because you’re not feeding her the delicious grain that is in the cart beside you, though all you really want to do is get a look at the weird growth in the first cow’s eyesocket so you can figure out whether or not it’s gotten bigger or smaller. (Bigger, in case anyone is curious.) And then Yellow 15 will knock over the grain cart and it will take you _and_ your honkin’ huge little brother to wrestle it back onto the walkway between stanchions, while Yellow 15 has been busy eating her head off. That’s why you don’t hug a cow. I also suggest not standing with your back turned or bending over in front of a calf, because they will bite anything that looks remotely like an udder, and will bite harder when they can’t get a latch. Not that I’m bitter or anything. _ahem_ I grew up on a dairy farm and have fondled many a teat. All the times that we’ve had to move a cow around without her cooperation, it’s taken lots of people or a tractor and sometimes both. Usually it’s when they’re ill or calving and so not in top form. (We generally don’t push pregnant cows around with tractors, though. Not the best idea.) To push them down when they’re healthy, it takes a hell of a lot more effort. It’s easiest to coax them into lying down and then tranquilize them, so you can roll them on to their sides (gently) with a few strong people. The last time we did that, it was because a cow had eaten some wire and needed abdominal surgery. I can’t even imagine someone trying to push over a healthy, non-tranquilized cow. They might look sweet, but they can be right bastards when you rub them the wrong way, especially on their own turf. No drunken frat boy without any experience with cattle is going to be able to push one over, especially since they sleep lying down. > [@appleciders](#): > > As long as we’re on cow legends, is it true that cows will only walk up stairs and never down, allowing city kids to trap one on the top floor of their school as a senior prank? Cows will go down stairs. The door into our cowyard (the barn was built in the 1840s) has two steps that the cows have to go down to get out and go up to get in. All 60 of 'em do it twice a day, and the only reluctant ones are the gluttons and the one with the bum ankle. I don’t know about a long series of steps, but the all maneuver the two steps down just fine. I could picture a cow being too stupid to go down a flight of stairs, though. Fun fact: if you need to get up a cow who’s reluctant to do so, if you rub her backbone/spine pretty hard with your knuckles, sometimes she’ll get up. Sometimes she’ll get up if you put something tasty (hay or a bucket of soybeans) just out of her reach. If neither of those things get her up, then there’s some serious trouble going on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping/360865.md?page=4)