# Goat vs Cow KO **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718 "2020-01-20T20:39:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/1 "2020-01-20T20:39:57Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/H-bMT8BYNO8/maxresdefault.jpg "Goat Knocks Out Cow With a Headbutt") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-bMT8BYNO8) The animal version of David v Goliath. And a reminder that even though someone/thing might be much smaller physically, heart can overcome bodysize. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/2 "2020-01-20T20:51:06Z")
That was probably the outcome predicted by anyone who’s met a goat… ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/3 "2020-01-20T21:02:05Z")
Goats and sheep are designed to headbutt with full skull to skull contact as part of their dominance testing. They have incredibly thick skulls backed up by a lot of supporting muscles, tendons, ligaments. Bulls do a lot of shoving and ramming but they tend to use pointed horns and work to shove and deflect - swordplay rather than brute force punching. Given the size and solidity of the goat’s head against the bull’s head, I’m guessing the effect was a bit like swinging a ball peen hammer full force on a wall. The wall is big, heavy, sturdy, but that little knob is going right through it! ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/4 "2020-01-20T21:05:35Z")
Thanks for fighting my ignorance. I was born and raised in the city and I would have never predicted this outcome. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/5 "2020-01-20T22:46:50Z")
Butchering a couple of goats was informative. An average billy has a full inch of bone in the forehead. A hefty hammer blow just bounces off it. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/6 "2020-01-20T23:20:55Z")
I once watched a lone ram demolish an 8"x8" post set deeply into the totally dry ground. He just set himself the task of knocking it over by ramming it over and over and over and over at a run, until it splintered and fell over. He appeared to simply enjoy the work, it was in the middle of a field. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/7 "2020-01-20T23:27:03Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I once watched a lone ram demolish an 8"x8" post set deeply into the totally dry ground. He just set himself the task of knocking it over by ramming it over and over and over and over at a run, until it splintered and fell over. He appeared to simply enjoy the work, it was in the middle of a field. Real question: Why arent goats susceptible to brain injury the way humans are? I realize,thick skull. But how do they avoid contrecoup brain injury? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/8 "2020-01-21T03:49:54Z")
The video in the OP is also a warning against taking cows lightly. They will charge. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/9 "2020-01-21T06:18:01Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > He appeared to simply enjoy the work, it was in the middle of a field. Very likely. Billies and rams have an instinct for butting heads. So they sometimes appear to do it just for the enjoyment. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/10 "2020-01-21T12:18:49Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Thanks for fighting my ignorance. I was born and raised in the city and I would have never predicted this outcome. Well cool, and you’re welcome! That’s not something I get to do here much with this eclectic bunch 😃 ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/11 "2020-01-21T12:23:57Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Real question: Why arent goats susceptible to brain injury the way humans are? I realize,thick skull. But how do they avoid contrecoup brain injury? I seem to remember that goats, sheep, and woodpeckers avoid brain trauma partially by the shock absorbing effects of their musculature, and partially because they have a mechanism that essentially floods the brain with blood/fluid at hammer-time, adding to the cushion. And I think a woodpecker’s long tongue also is part of the shock absorption system. I may have this scrambled a bit, my Animal Science courses were a looong time ago … ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/12 "2020-01-21T14:52:45Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I once watched a lone ram demolish an 8"x8" post set deeply into the totally dry ground. He just set himself the task of knocking it over by ramming it over and over and over and over at a run, until it splintered and fell over. He appeared to simply enjoy the work, it was in the middle of a field. There are YouTube videos from a guy who has sheep who hung a punching bag from a tree. The rams do seem to enjoy pounding the thing. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/13 "2020-01-21T15:40:12Z")
One of our goats killed one of our mini-horses. He didn’t do it by head-butt, instead stabbing her in the femoral artery with his horns, but yeah. We’re aware these guys are dangerous. They aren’t purposefully vicious, but it’s easy to get hurt just being around them. They spend a good deal of their time just smacking the shit out of each other for fun. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/14 "2020-01-21T16:03:39Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > There are YouTube videos from a guy who has sheep who hung a punching bag from a tree. The wording here has me envisioning a Gary Larson comic of a group of sheep installing a punching bag on a tree. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/15 "2020-01-21T16:06:46Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Real question: Why arent goats susceptible to brain injury the way humans are? I realize,thick skull. But how do they avoid contrecoup brain injury? If you watch the goat in the video, he was rather unsteady on his feet. I would bet the goat would suffer some consequences if he repeatedly challenged cows. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/16 "2020-01-21T16:15:09Z")
What makes you think that they DON’T suffer brain injuries? It just doesn’t take much brains to be a sheep or a goat, so they just continue on with their equivalent of CTE. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/17 "2020-01-21T20:29:49Z")
Goat tries to get dog to play. Dog’s having none of it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rXhdQkNDT40/maxresdefault.jpg "Crazy goat annoying the dog") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXhdQkNDT40) ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/18 "2020-01-21T20:55:34Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > One of our goats killed one of our mini-horses. He didn’t do it by head-butt, instead stabbing her in the femoral artery with his horns, but yeah. We’re aware these guys are dangerous. They aren’t purposefully vicious, but it’s easy to get hurt just being around them. They spend a good deal of their time just smacking the shit out of each other for fun. Exactly why I only have dehorned goats in with my horses. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/19 "2020-01-21T22:17:01Z")
This is a video that demands a Howard Cosell voice over. Somebody call Billy Crystal. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718/20 "2020-01-21T22:29:13Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Goat tries to get dog to play. Dog’s having none of it. > > [https://youtu.be/rXhdQkNDT40](https://youtu.be/rXhdQkNDT40) It’s sort of like the nutty guy trying to drag-race the responsible guy in that auto insurance ad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goat-vs-cow-ko/846718.md?page=2)