# Some 'did you know' s **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504 "2004-03-04T14:16:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![optimystique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b38774/32.png) [@optimystique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/optimystique)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/1 "2004-03-04T14:16:45Z")
Well today I was browsing through this magazine and I came across some interesting ‘did you know’ facts, in particular: 1. you can lead a cow upstairs but you cannot lead it downstairs 2. a duck’s quack doesn’t echo Are the above statements really true? If so, why? ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/2 "2004-03-04T14:21:55Z")
You are gonna wish you never brought up _the duck question_. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/3 "2004-03-04T14:24:21Z")
1. Depends on the cow. 2. Not true. All sounds echo. This has been covered a number of times here so you may get some sarcastic remarks. Don’t sweat it, you didn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/4 "2004-03-04T14:30:30Z")
[quack](http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/duckecho.htm) Cow one might actually be ‘true’ because some cows’ knees can’t bend properly to walk back down stairs. So I hear. ---
**Author:** ![pcroughn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/977dab/32.png) [@pcroughn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pcroughn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/5 "2004-03-04T14:39:14Z")
Yeah, the quack thing… As for the cow: [http://adamrlee.com/southasia/india/gurucow.jpg](http://adamrlee.com/southasia/india/gurucow.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/6 "2004-03-04T14:42:26Z")
**UncaCece** talks [about duck’s echoes.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_071.html) I think the problem with a cow walking downstairs is the same reason they don’t cross a cattle guard. Their depth perception is limited and going downstairs would require good depth perception. Plus, it’d be kinda hard to know exactly where to step with their hind legs. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/7 "2004-03-04T14:46:48Z")
Udder nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/8 "2004-03-04T14:58:31Z")
It’s just plain nonsense. The actual truth is: 1. A cow’s moo won’t echo downstairs. 2. Why a duck? Why no-a chicken? ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/9 "2004-03-04T15:20:29Z")
Here’s a couple of cites for cattle and their problem with depth perception. Also, just because someone may train a cow to go up and DOWN a set of steps doesn’t mean they will do so naturally or voluntarily. Many ranches have steps for people to use when crossing the fence. I’ve never seen a cow use them and I’ve seen and worked with a lot of 'em. I don’t know about the duck echo, other than **Unca Cece** said so…good enough for me. 😉 [http://www.cattlepages.com/wwwboard/consumers/messages/8472.asp](http://www.cattlepages.com/wwwboard/consumers/messages/8472.asp) “Cows aren’t smart enough to figure out that they would get their feet caught. A cattle gaurd functions because a cow has no depth perception and can’t see the bottom clearly and they aren’t comfortable stepping on the cross bars.” [http://outside.away.com/magazine/0796/9607wild.html](http://outside.away.com/magazine/0796/9607wild.html) “Why don’t cows cross cattle guards, even cattle guards that are merely painted on the pavement? Because cows don’t have good depth perception, they can’t readily distinguish between a real guard and a painted one.” This is true from my experience as well. I went to feed one morning and found a gate down off it’s hinges and laying across the gap, looked kinda like a cattle guard. The cows were standing at it but weren’t trying to cross it. Although when I came across the field and started to honk the horn (that’s how you call 'em in to feed) The one’s in the back actually forced the one’s in front to cross. Kinda like a buffalo stampeding off a cliff or lemmings to the sea. hmm :scratches head: Isn’t that lemming thing a myth? I always thought it was true but then I’ve also heard different. I’ve never bothered to check. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/10 "2004-03-04T15:58:42Z")
Ah, the stupid duck-quack thing. My parents had chickens and ducks for a while. Duck quacks do echo. And ducks never shut up. :rolleyes: They also shit all over everything. Filthy little birds… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/11 "2004-03-04T16:00:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > 1. Why a duck? Why no-a chicken? It’s deep water, that’s why a duck! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/12 "2004-03-04T17:12:00Z")
Then why do you need a Ford when you have a horse? And why a fence? ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/13 "2004-03-04T19:19:38Z")
I decided _not_ to buy the cow… I can buy milk at the convenience store, and it’s already pasteurized, homogenized, and they’ve even added Vitamin D! I usually buy skim. I use it on my cereal, and recently I’ve discovered that a glassful is delicious with a shot of bourbon in it (as a nightcap). As for those ducks… let me give you the low down… ---
**Author:** ![peasea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc79bd/32.png) [@peasea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peasea)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/14 "2004-03-04T20:37:32Z")
> [@pcroughn](#): > > As for the cow: > > [http://adamrlee.com/southasia/india/gurucow.jpg](http://adamrlee.com/southasia/india/gurucow.jpg) Ah, but what you can’t tell from that picture is that the cow is walking _up_ the steps, _backwards_. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/15 "2004-03-04T20:38:04Z")
> [@t-keela](#): > > […] > I went to feed one morning and found a gate down off it’s hinges and laying across the gap, looked kinda like a cattle guard. > […] > The one’s in the back actually forced the one’s in front to cross. **t-keela** , apostrophes aren’t used to make plurals, and the possessive of “it” is “its”. ---
**Author:** ![pcroughn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/977dab/32.png) [@pcroughn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pcroughn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/16 "2004-03-04T21:04:39Z")
Originally posted by **peasea** > [@](#): > > Ah, but what you can’t tell from that picture is that the cow is walking up the steps, backwards. Ya got me. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/17 "2004-03-04T23:00:29Z")
> [@](#): > > t-keela, apostrophes aren’t used to make plurals, and the possessive of “it” is “its”. Yeah, I know this. It slips by me sometimes. We actually had a thread about its usage several months ago. Hey, nobody’s perfect. BTW…You know what irks me? The abuse of ellipsis, run-on sentences and quotation marks. 😉 I’m guilty of all three myself occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/18 "2004-03-04T23:11:06Z")
> [@Kilt-wearin' man](#): > > Ah, the stupid duck-quack thing. My parents had chickens and ducks for a while. Duck quacks do echo. And ducks never shut up. :rolleyes: > > They also shit all over everything. Filthy little birds… Hey man, why you keeck my duck–he no quack you… ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/19 "2004-03-05T05:26:20Z")
> [@t-keela](#): > > We actually had a thread about its usage several months ago. Is it just me, or do we have a thread about this every day? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![etgaw1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@etgaw1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etgaw1)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504/20 "2004-03-05T06:17:32Z")
> [@gluteus maximus](#): > > I decided _not_ to buy the cow… I can buy milk at the convenience store, and it’s already pasteurized, homogenized, and they’ve even added Vitamin D! I usually buy skim. I use it on my cereal, and recently I’ve discovered that a glassful is delicious with a shot of bourbon in it (as a nightcap). > > As for those ducks… let me give you the low down… I grew up on fresh, unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk that we got from the 2 old farmers that lived on the hill. I even petted the cow before. Damn that was Gooooooood milk. Of course it would take some time to get used to while you are gaining antibodies to the unpastuerized milk. etgaw1 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-did-you-know-s/232504.md?page=2)