# Cows would rather Talk to you in Person, Study Finds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019 "2020-10-15T15:48:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/1 "2020-10-15T15:48:07Z")
I kid you not. I didn’t even realize that cow dissatisfaction with Zoom was even an issue. Silly me > [@](#): > > **Cows prefer to co-moo-nicate in person, research suggests** > > Cows don’t make video calls but if they did, chances are they’d hate them just as much as most of us do. > > The farm animals prefer face-to-face chat, new research from Austria suggests. Cows are more relaxed after being spoken to directly by a live human rather than when listening to a recorded voice via a loudspeaker, researchers found. > > “Our study suggests that live talking is more relaxing for our animals than a recording of a human voice,” said Annika Lange, a doctoral student at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna and author of the study, in a press statement. > > “Interactions may be less positive when they become artificial.” [https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/15/world/cows-cattle-communication-scn/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/15/world/cows-cattle-communication-scn/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/2 "2020-10-15T15:53:35Z")
Cow listening to a recording: “Where the hell’s that voice coming from?” 🐄 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/3 "2020-10-15T16:10:32Z")
If I can piggyback on this topic, people are now reaching to cows for hugs during the pandemic. > **[Cow Hugging Emerges as Latest Wellness Trend: 'People Think It's Very Relaxing'](https://people.com/pets/cow-hugging-therapy-wellness-trend/)** > > "Cows are very relaxed animals, they don't fight, they don't get in trouble," one farm owner said ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/4 "2020-10-15T17:42:15Z")
Maybe this is a painless way to achieve Herd Immunity. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/5 "2020-10-15T17:45:33Z")
To your room! Now! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/6 "2020-10-15T17:49:16Z")
Moooooooo…I mean, Booooooooo! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/7 "2020-10-15T20:54:51Z")
Well, of course. How are they supposed to eat the buttons off your shirt, or chew on your hair, via Zoom? – and I am kind of surprised that the person who said cows never get in trouble is a farmer. But it may depend on the breed; I tend to know people who at least sometimes have heirloom breeds. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/8 "2020-10-15T22:32:28Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > If I can piggyback on this topic, people are now reaching to cows for hugs during the pandemic. One of my cow-orkers (sorry, couldn’t resist) who’s a long-time friend owns a ranchette with a few cows. When everything gets too crazy in the world he likes to go out in the pasture and lay down against one of the cows lying there under a tree. Awake or asleep, the cows are equally tranquil and inert. They’re warm, they breath slowly, and he says to himself “Buttercup here isn’t worried about Trump or global warming or Xi or layoffs or …” Calms him right down he says. It’s nice sometimes to be like a cow. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/9 "2020-10-15T22:38:33Z")
Often, academics use this kind of study to milk additional grant money from funders. I don’t blame them, nor do I think the study was udderly frivolous. The way I see it … there’s a lot at steak. [I’ll show myself out] ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/10 "2020-10-15T22:55:14Z")
You forgot “Try the veal.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/11 "2020-10-16T11:14:22Z")
Cows can’t be all that tranquil and inert if they have their own space program. I understand a Mars jump is tentatively scheduled to happen within the next five years. Dogs look forward to the spectacle of it. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/12 "2020-10-16T14:24:47Z")
I, for one can’t wait to see the Mooon Lander they’ve developed. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/13 "2020-10-16T16:14:02Z")
That’s an udderly disgusting pun there @swampspruce! ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/14 "2020-10-16T17:18:18Z")
😁 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/15 "2020-10-16T18:50:26Z")
They don’t need one. Apparently they’re capable of achieving escape velocity merely by leaping off the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/16 "2020-10-16T20:32:41Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Apparently they’re capable of achieving escape velocity merely by leaping off the ground. To be fair, it doesn’t require escape velocity to jump over the moon. Several thousand mph less than that should be sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/17 "2020-10-16T21:02:13Z")
Nevertheless they’ll be mooooving pretty darn fast. Although with that much speed the Doppler shift on the way up may have them sounding more like infrasound. On re-entry it’ll be more of a shrill meeee followed by a very loud SPLAT! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/18 "2020-10-16T21:23:21Z")
By the way, I’m missing a dish and a spoon. It’s almost as if they ran off together. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/19 "2020-10-16T21:49:49Z")
I just hope it’s nice and flatware they wind up. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019/20 "2020-10-16T22:01:19Z")
Be quiet everyone. My cat’s trying to tune his violin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cows-would-rather-talk-to-you-in-person-study-finds/923019.md?page=2)