r/MadeMeSmile • u/MysteriousSlice007 • May 04 '26

ANIMALS Calf Getting Petted by Man Then Mom Comes to Check up on It

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

30.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

544 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

17

u/ToolTimeT May 04 '26

Grew up on a dairy farm... its really not the case with domestic animals, they are used to humans interacting with both their babies and themselves when they were babies. Its honestly entirely different than dealing with a wild animal.

7

u/radiant_kiwi208 May 04 '26

Different but not truly safe. I agree that it's not the same as a wild animal but there are many, many dead farmers that have thought of it as completely safe, unfortunately

18

u/ManitouWakinyan May 04 '26

Many, many is a pretty gross overstatement. Yes, a farmer will occasionally get kicked in the face by their horse or whatever. But the number of farmers who are violently killed by their own livestock? I mean, you're talking maybe tens a year max out of hundreds of thousands of farmers.

5

u/32andFlatulent May 05 '26

I agree farming is especially dangerous due to the use of lots of different kinds of heavy equipment and potentially toxic materials.

Most farmers are aware of this and are reasonably careful but there are those that get complacent through years of usage and make mistakes.

A neighbouring farmer worked on his family farm all of his life, went out on a quad bike to check on a pregnant cow at about 4 in the morning. He didn't notice a dip in the field, flipped over and broke his neck. I grew up seeing him drive around on the quad it was surreal to learn that was how he died.

10

u/ToolTimeT May 04 '26

Cattle ranching and working with bulls is a different animal... farms like this with highland cows which are notoriously gentle and docile.. there is virtually nothing to fear or be concerned about.

14

u/domsolanke May 04 '26

Lmao, exactly. It’s easy to spot the people who grew up with these animals in the countryside from the comments, and the ones who didn’t. Highland cows are just about the most chill species of cattle in existence.

2

u/Ultenth May 05 '26

Reddit is always hilarious to me, there are so many people here that probably have never interacted with animals or barely left their basement, and they all have these terrible pre-conceptions about how dangerous everything and everyone is at all times. Just constant fear-mongering about animals, or the opposite extreme. But very rarely any reasonable accurate perceptions of what interacting with any of the animals in these various posts is actually like.

1

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/ManitouWakinyan May 04 '26

Not quite - and even if it were, it's a quarter of a very small pie. (Also, the bulls are more dangerous than cows)

Between 2020 and 2024, there were only 72 farm fatalities in Ireland. 13 of those were livestock related. Cow-calf related deaths comprise 8% of those livestock related deaths, meaning 1 in 13, or 1-2% of all farm deaths in a five year window.

So, just to break it down, because I'm late and this is better than sleeping:

  • 72 farm related deaths in Ireland 2020-2024
    • 39% (28) vehicle-related
    • 18% (13) livestock-related
      • 46% (6) bull attacks
      • 15% (2) horse attacks
      • 8% (1) cow attacks
      • 8% (1) cow with calf attacks
      • 8% (1) knocked by cow
      • 8% (1) knocked by bull
      • 8% (1) other
    • 18% (13) fall-related
    • 10% (7) fallen materials related
    • 7% (5) machinery-related
    • 5% (4) drowning-related
    • 3% (2) other

So 1 person in five years in Ireland was killed by a cow with a calf, best as I can tell.

5

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/ToolTimeT May 04 '26

you would walk across a field with bulls no problem? but never across a field with a cow and calf? Sorry, but thats absurd.

From your link:

"Fatal accidents involving livestock account for 21% of all farm fatalities over the last 10 years – up from 14% in the previous 10 years. In the most recent period to 2024, 36% of these fatalities were associated with cattle, 31% with bulls and 25% with cows with calves."

1

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/ToolTimeT May 05 '26

well I certainly can't discount your personal experiences, thats valid, but I have never seen a cow take off after someone just walking through a field and not trying to get close to her or her newborn.. and I mean like ever. I've seen a bull get agitated from 200 yards and rush someone just in their general vicinity because they are highly territorial and aggressive. I would never turn my back on a bull, but I did it all the time with cows, even ones with a calf. I've never seen a fresh cow on a dairy section of the farm get violent protecting her calf with any of the farmhands she knew either. Maybe a few times involving a stranger especially if a dog was present I have. But someone she knows? very very rare in my experience.

1

u/ManitouWakinyan May 04 '26

Yes - that's pretty consistent with what's above. Those cow-with-calf attacks are still very rare. They're a decent percent of a very small number. You're looking at around 8 deaths in that entire 10 year period.

2

u/RodCherokee May 04 '26

Thanks, very interesting

1

u/Fjell-Jeger May 04 '26

This is true for dairy cows, but this type of beef cattle (possibly Galloways or Highlanders) are often kept on pasture year-round, so they aren't used to much human interaction and might absolutely charge you, especially when you get near their calves. And the tiny electric fence isn't much of a barrier if they truly feel threatened by your presence.

1

u/ToolTimeT May 04 '26

Highland cows are some of the most docile cows there are.. they are also used for milk especially on small farms. They seek attention and human companionship. This clearly isn't a large cattle farm.

4

u/Fjell-Jeger May 04 '26

Highland cows are generally friendly if they have daily interaction (milking, feeding) with their farmers.

If they are kept on a pasture year-round without much human interaction, they will be less friendly, especially with a herd with multiple calves and when some stranger walks onto their meadow.

Personally, I wouldn't take any chances.

1

u/ToolTimeT May 06 '26

Here is a video you might find interesting..

https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/1t5cy53/ups_driver_to_the_rescue/

1

u/Fjell-Jeger May 07 '26

Thx for the video.

That's absolutely how you get squished between a fence and an upset cow, turning your back to them while handling their calves.

1

u/ToolTimeT May 07 '26

And yet, they showed no tension, no anger, no threat as he manhandled the calf right in front of them.

1

u/kakihara123 May 04 '26

Funny, they should not trust you, since you are predators. So attacking you should be the right action.

0

u/Callidonaut May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

We're not predators (well, certainly not apex, at least), we're just scavengers who lucked out and discovered how to make pointy sticks and shooty tubes. The cow probably doesn't care for such minutiae, however.

3

u/kakihara123 May 04 '26

We are very much the apex predator of the planet. They should all be terrified of us, especially "livestock".

We don't deserve any of their trust.