11/18/2003: Cow magnets

Sometimes an IotD is an ordinary photo of something unusual and this is the case today. From here, via everlasting blort, these are cow magnets.

(And we've had lively conversations about livestock, and this sorta fits into that realm too.)

Cows, it turns out, are dumb. How dumb? As they graze, they often wind up picking up more than just grass. They'll also eat dirt and rocks and pieces of metal that are lying around -- loose nails, staples, fencing wire, bailing wire.

We human smarties are sensible enough to stop eating if we chomp down on bailing wire. We spit it right out and make a bitter face. Cows, on the other hand, will often just swallow it, because their attitude is that they'll cough up all this meal and chew it later, whether it's good eats or not.

But the metal bits can cause problems, when they get stuck. And thus, the cow magnet. Put one of these magnets in their first stomach, and any metal crap the cow eats will stick to the magnet and just stay there, out of the way.

One magnet lasts the entire life of the cow. As long as you aren't grazing them near a thumbtack factory.

what do they do about the milking pail jumping up off the ground and sticking to the underside of the heifer?

do these cows tend to face north as they eat?

what effect do they have on electronic equipment?

just a couple of thoughts...

I wonder what keeps it from moving out of the first stomach. The copy on the site says they're only 3.5" long. Doesn't seem like it would weigh enough to stay put.

      My first thought is how much 'fun' it must be to stick these things down the cows throat in the first place. Talk about a sucky job...

And do these magnets make it any more likely that Bessie will be struck by lightning?

that everlastingblot site is pretty wacky....

hey UT, there was a link on slashdot to this site:

http://www.news-images.com/

thought you might find it useful.....

Don't pick nits, bruce, or I'll get one of those magnets and drag you around by the plate in your head. ( yeah, i know, it's stainless too!)

now when a bull tells a cow... "You repel me," we know there's a good reason.

The really bad thing about this is that the poor cows are constantly having their floppy disks erased after they've had one installed.

I wonder if this gave Gary Larsen the idea for his 'Cow Tools' Far Side cartoon...

I'm just trying to figure out how this is interesting news. I guess it is for people who've never been to 'The Country(TM)'.

Quzah.

<twang>
Them cows is sure almost as stupid as horses. Horses'll eat anything
</twang>

Chickens, now, chickens are really dumb.

Re: 11/18/2003: Cow magnets

There are a number of Universities and research stations that have living cows with portholes implanted in the cows side. You can look into the working Rumen and open the porthole to take samples. You wouldn't believe the smell.

low tech constuction tool

Before electrfonic studfinders, a cow magnet on a string could be dragged along a wall surface and would locate drywall nails/screws and the stud behind the surface.

Re: low tech constuction tool