Dairy Cow Business

You're looking at the business end of the dairy cow, at least when it comes to gas emissions. That's right: the front end of the cow, not the rear end.

It turns out that dairy cow belches are releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than their flatulents. Since the dairy industry is estimated to account for 2% of the greenhouse gases in the US, Tim Maikshilo and his wife, Kristen Dellert, are doing what they can to minimize those belches.

They're doing it by feeding their dairy cows foods and grasses that are high in Omega 3 (alfalfa, flaxseed, etc.), as opposed to the more typical corn or soy.

No one tell my wife about this. If she ever were to find out, I'd find significant changes to my dinner plate tonight.

Thanks for the article, Ida.

Photo source AP Photo/Toby Talbot via Yahoo!

Highland Tongue

Given this cow's red bangs, I assume that it can be none other than a kyloe, Scottish highland cattle. They're nice and shaggy so they can withstand the winds and rain that beset the highlands. That shaggy coat also results in leaner meat than most other beef cattle, who rely on subcutaneous fat for warmth. Mmm, subcutaneous fat. Time for another visit to Outback Steakhouse.

When I first saw this photo I was suitably disgusted by it having jammed its tongue up its nose. But then, in an attempt to be honest to myself, I realized that if I could jam my tongue up my nose, I would. I would do it a lot too. Much to the dismay of my wife, but to the delight of my children.

Photo by Christine

ROUS Seeking Mine

Mozambique is but one country littered with lethal mine fields. There have been many different methods developed to discover these mines, ranging from running mad-cow-diseased cattle over the fields to detonate the bombs to sacrificial child-soldiers to armored mine-clearing vehicles. But all such methods have significant flaws or limitations, or are just plain evil.

Enter the Giant Gambian Pouched Rat.

Photo source: Time.com
These rats are ideally suited to clearing land mines. They are intelligent, easy to train, easy to transport, cheap to feed, work well with any handler, and are resistant to tropical diseases (unlike dogs who weigh too much, get bored, and succumb to such diseases too readily). 36 such rats have already cleared the country of thousands of mines. Two rats can accomplish in one hour what a human de-miner would take two weeks to do.

How do they do it? They are trained to sniff out the TNT in the mines. As they scamper across the field, they sniff the ground. Once they catch a whiff of the explosive, they scratch at the ground. The rat's handler then clicks a remote, which signals the rat's collar to chirp, making the rat run back to the handler for food. The rats find the mines, but are too light to detonate them. They can be used again and again and seem to really enjoy the work.

I have a new found respect for vermin. Which reminds me: I need to give my brother a call.

Not A Bovine Expert

The curly locks on the beard and those disinterested eyes - oh, and that tongue - all combined to prompt me to post this photo.

I'm thinking this beast is a yak, but I am far from a bovine expert (unless you want to talk steak). Did you know that there are twenty four species of medium-sized to large ungulates (a group to which bovines belong) out there? I didn't either. I don't have the time to compile a comprehensive list of said ungulates, but I imagine most have been yoked with a plow or have been bred for the dinner plate.

UPDATE: I am a fool. According to many of you, this is no cow, but a goat! Most likely an angora. One of you should be running this blog, not me.

Photo source: Knuttz.net

Cow Tongue

This bovine makes me want to go vegetarian--and never eat corn again. My BBQs might never be the same.

Did you know that all of our modern cattle breeds are descended from one common ancestor: the aurochs? The last surving aurochs was killed by a poacher in Poland, in 1627. Thanks, poacher.

Photo courtesy: heydere

Tongue-licious

Err. Uh. Ya. Picture says it all. Just a reminder, though, lots of people eat cow tongues and faces. Think on that.

Photo courtesy: www.clarity.net

Blood Sucker

Pretty much everything that sucks blood is going to be ugly. Add in a bat to the description and you have a wonderful recipe for abomination.
















You've got to love the vampire bat (photo courtesy: www.abdn.ac.uk). Not all bats are ugly - the flying fox is a good looking creature, for instance - but this particular specimen above would be a first-class citizen in Uglyland.


Just look at this vampire bat sucking on a cow. Ugly and very creepy. Always a good combo.

Photo courtesy: www.kidzone.com.