On Vox: Initializing a Cow object.

Yesterday was the first time in my life, that I'd seen a cow give birth to a young calf. It was totally unplanned. We arrived at Kibbutz Horashim to visit a blacksmith's shop, in order to select a design for our new gate. A few meters away from his workshop there was a big cowshed, with a few dozen cows lazily chewing on their straw. After we were done with the blacksmith, the kids wanted to see the cows, so we came a bit closer. One of the cows, who was as big as a house, suddenly lay on its side and started convulsing. Something white came out of its back end, something that got bigger and became the head of a calf, all covered with pink film. A few more pushes, and the whole baby cow came out. The mother cow immediately rose to its feet, and a big splash of blood and liquid goo came out of its ass. The calf just lay there in the mud and waited for its mother to clean him up. The ease at which it happened was amazing.

The weird part was that no farm hand was present during the delivery. It's as if they don't care what happens to the calf or to its mother. What if they need help? What if one of them gets in trouble? It's not as if cows are completely natural animals living in their natural surroundings. The modern cow is in large part a piece of human engineering, and therefore has its weaknesses. I gather that giving birth isn't one of them, as all went surprisingly well.

Originally posted on wildernesscat.vox.com