June is National Dairy Month! In honor of this important month, here are 6 interesting and fun cow facts about dairy cows while you celebrate all things dairy.
Cow Facts About the Six Senses
- It’s very difficult to sneak up on a cow.
Cows can only see hues of yellow and blue because they are dichromatic organisms. This means that the retinas in their eyes do not have receptors to identify the color red. Nevertheless, there are other benefits to their special eyes. Thanks to the positioning of their eyes, cows can see almost 360 degrees. (Don’t worry, they can turn their heads to get a better look in their blind spot–straight ahead.) They can also see in the low light, meaning they see well during the night. Just remember, cows are rather large animals, but they still deserve the care and kindness of even the smallest insect. While it is hard to sneak up on them, it’s still best to walk toward them if you want to spend some quality time.
- Cows can smell odors up to six miles away.
With this strong sense of smell, they have aversions to bad smells, which is another reason to keep their home clean. A cat’s anxiety and discomfort with a dirty litter box are very similar to how a cow would react to a bad-smelling and dirty living area.
Cow Facts: The Cow’s Body
- Bovine have 32 teeth.
This is the same number of teeth humans have. However, cows do not have any top front teeth. To grab food, cows instead use their tongue, wrapping it around items like grass and pulling. Cows don’t need additional dental care from farmers, as cows spend a good part of their day chewing. Watching a cow chew is a surprisingly therapeutic activity.
- Cows use their long tongues for more than eating.
A cow’s rough, long tongue makes it easy to clean, specifically to clean its own nose. Oh, and to lick anyone they’re curious about. Next time you are at a dairy farm, watch out for that nearly foot-long tongue! Just know if you do get some cow slobber on you, it’s the case of a curious cow.
- Cows have cloven hooves.
meaning each hoof is split into two nearly equal parts. Like trimming nails, hooves need to be trimmed and cleaned every few months. Like other animals, cows can naturally wear down the hooves by walking, but farmers like to make sure that hooves don’t become long and uncomfortable. It also is a good time to check the health of the hooves.
- These beautiful animals have 207 bones in their bodies.
This is only one more bone than humans. Considering how tall and large cows are (around 900-1,600 pounds depending on the breed), that’s amazing!
The Dairy Alliance Loves Cows
Here at The Dairy Alliance, dairy cattle are very important to us. We look at them as our children! For more cow facts and information about dairy cows, visit our blog.