A COW TRICK 



to brush off the flies and scratch herself pleasantly, 

 but when I see her at it she looks to me to be enjoy- 

 ing herself in a way not wholly accounted for by the 

 fly and itching theory. When attacking the stack 

 with her horns she flings her tail in the air and 

 prances as if she were trying a new tango step. Then 

 she hurls herself against the stack and rubs along 

 against it until she reaches the other end, where she 

 throws up her head, with a wisp of hay on her horns, 

 and looks as if she were enjoying life to the full. 

 All cows will do this when they get a chance — at 

 least all cows I have had dealings with. Perhaps 

 purebreds that have their names in the herd book 

 may be above such tricks, but I doubt it. Anyway, 

 cows are the only animals that do this. I have never 

 known horses, pigs or sheep to do it, though the flies 

 no doubt bother them too, and they also must feel 

 itchy at times. But if you let cows get at a stack 

 they will rub against it until it looks like a monster 

 mushroom. I have even known cows to keep on rub- 

 bing against a strawstack until the central stem got 

 worn so small that the heavy top tumbled over on 

 them, and they had to be dug out with much labour. 

 I wish some scientist who isn't busy would tell me 



69 



