# It's not listed as one that you won't answer. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2000, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510 "2000-10-03T18:18:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Croix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Croix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Croix)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/1 "2000-10-03T18:18:45Z")
So, the question “If cows laughed, would milk come out of their noses?” is listed as one that will not be answered. That being the case, I won’t ask it. However, I’m curious. Would a cow drink milk? ---
**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/2 "2000-10-03T18:21:33Z")
Calves drink milk, cows don’t. Humans are, I believe, the only species that drinks milk past infancy. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/3 "2000-10-03T18:21:50Z")
WTF do you think baby cows drink? That question has the most obvious answer of anything ever asked here! ---
**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/4 "2000-10-03T18:24:01Z")
Oh, and i think when a cow laughs, cud comes out its nose. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/5 "2000-10-03T18:35:28Z")
You mean, if you shoved a bowl of milk under a grown cow’s face, would it drink it? That’s the question you’re asking. Who knows? I have no idea why cats like milk so much but dogs don’t. More importantly, what sort of thing makes a cow laugh? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/6 "2000-10-03T18:59:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > More importantly, what sort of thing makes a cow laugh? some udderly tasteless joke or another… ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/7 "2000-10-03T19:17:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gigi \* > some udderly tasteless joke or another… But only if they were in the moo-d. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/8 "2000-10-03T19:24:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ivar \* > \*\*Humans are, I believe, the only species that drinks milk past infancy. \*\* I’ve seen barn cats drinking milk dripping from over-full cows. Adult dogs drink milk, so do pigs. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/9 "2000-10-03T20:21:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > **I have no idea why cats like milk so much but dogs don’t.** My dogs love to lap us spilled milk. Then again, they also lap up spilled beer, whiskey, tomato juice, and just about anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/10 "2000-10-03T22:15:19Z")
I believe there is also a condition in which cows will also nurse form their own udder. Any farmers out there to verify this? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/11 "2000-10-03T23:44:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Any farmers out there to verify this? Not a farmer, but I can verify they showed a cow doing this as a clip on one of those “funniest home video” shows. So at least I can confirm I’ve seen a cow doing it. She had to kick up a rear leg and get twisted all around to reach her udder. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Malik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@Joe\_Malik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Malik)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/12 "2000-10-04T05:06:22Z")
In England, BSE became widespread (IIRC) because they were including ground up cow (brains?) in cow food. Cows are not terribly intelligent; spice it up enough and I suppose they will eat most anything. ---
**Author:** ![BigStar303](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@BigStar303](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigStar303)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-listed-as-one-that-you-wont-answer/35510/13 "2000-10-04T05:20:39Z")
Related only tangentally to the thread, but this statement gave me an opening to post a question I’ve always wondered about… \<\< I have no idea why cats like milk so much but dogs don’t. \>\> By the same token, why do cats love tuna (or fish generally) so much? Doesn’t it stand to reason that animals in the wild would develop a “taste” for that food that is most easily accessible to them? Even if their aversion to water is somewhat overstated, you don’t normally think of cats (or their ancestors) wandering down to the nearest river, lake or ocean in search of a meal. So why do they so eagerly tear into a type of food that would not seem to figure in the diet of their forebearers?