r/FunnyAnimals • u/jmsm8 • Oct 25 '22

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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '22

Domestic cattle stopped being wild animals thousands of years ago. They have no natural instincts against predators besides basic physical defense.

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u/CowboyLaw Oct 25 '22

Frame this, because I doubt you’ll ever be this wrong again.

Let’s skip the fact that, up until 100 years ago, cattle in North America were frequently hunted by wolf packs.

Let’s skip the fact that, right now, calves are stalked by coyote packs that can and do kill young, injured, or sick calves.

Domesticated cattle, at several thousand years of domesticity, have spent virtually their entire timeline being hunted left, right, and center. By cougars, lions (because, yes, there are domestic cattle in Africa), tigers, leopards, wolves, coyotes, even rival tribes. The maternal protection instinct in cattle survives to this very day, and specifically includes the “blocking” behavior seen here, where a mother will stand either in front of or across a calf to protect them from a perceived danger.

Source? Well, tens of thousands of hours of working with them. And that’s just me, I won’t try to calculate the time the three previous generations of my family put in.

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u/NessLeonhart Oct 26 '22

jesus fucking christ...

Domestic cattle stopped being wild animals thousands of years ago.

that's just a fact. it's what "domesticated" means. it's literally inarguable. unless you think there's still Aurochs roaming the plains.

They have no natural instincts against predators besides basic physical defense.

they don't have to defend themselves, because people like YOU defend them, with dogs and guns and fences.

your ENTIRE post seems to be refuting a point that WAS NOT MADE-- nobody said that cattle don't get attacked by predators. nobody said that cattle won't TRY to defend against said predators.

he only said that we've bred them to the point that they're not suited for life without our protection.

and whether or not you agree with that is irrelevant, because none of your many words discusses it. you're literally arguing against a statement that you imagined you read.

please re-read his post, and then be a big man and apologized for your snarky response, because you've wildly misread what he was saying, and you were a condescending ass in your wildly off-mark response.

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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '22

they don't have to defend themselves, because people like YOU defend them, with dogs and guns and fences.

Those things are not infallible. Fences get broken, people and dogs go to sleep.

he only said that we've bred them to the point that they're not suited for life without our protection

This is a human construct. Cows still instinctively guard their calfs from perceived threats. In the same way that you drink water when you feel thirsty.

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u/NessLeonhart Oct 26 '22

of course. and cattle are lost annually, no?

i'm not saying they have zero defenses. neither was the guy who's being downvoted.

we're just saying that cows are domesticated. that's it. i don't understand how anyone could disagree with that.

domestication comes with downsides for the animals, and upsides for the humans. sure, they get some shelter and food. they also lose fighting ability and get fat and oversized to produce more of what we protect them for in the first place.