By: Blonde Two
Last week, whilst we Two Blondes were driving the lanes of Dartmoor on the trail of our Silver Duke of Edinburgh Expedition youngsters, we noticed that all of the Dartmoor animals seemed rather relaxed. The sheep were sleepily sheepish, the ponies were prostrately poised and the cows were quietly composed. It was as though Herr Bach himself was there indicating that his sheep should safely graze. If you don’t know what safely grazing sheep sound like, here they are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1nyzGR3tUE.
The suggestion that cows lie down when it is going to rain is an interesting one. A quick bit of internet research turned up a wide range of ideas on the topic from scientists proving that the folklore is right to a suggestion that cows legs are porous and absorb moisture from the damp pre-rain air, thus rendering the poor animals unable to support their own body weight.
It didn’t rain on this animal relaxation day and we Blondes have our own theory (of course). Farmers of old were very hard working but sometimes, like everyone else, wanted a day off. In order to avoid having to go out in the rain, they used to tell their wives that the cows were lying down and couldn’t be moved until they were less tired. Thus the connection between rain and lying down cows was made!
That myth has been with me for as long as I can remember – inherited from my mum I think. From my own observations over my 70 plus lifespan it seems to be generally true. It is not difficult to believe that cows can sense oncoming rain, we humans with our limited senses compared with most animals can do that fairly easily. Accepting that possibility the cows are obviously claiming some dry ground to lie on before the wet arrives. That hardly makes them super intelligent or metaphysical predictors of the future, just beasts with plain common sense….
…but I fear I may now have now spoilt your more romantic fable.
There’s nowt like a hill top at night in a tiny tent, with the sound of sheep calling in the distance, and a dog to hug. However, never, ever emulate the Pennine Way walker in our group who tied her bivouack bag to a nearby post for anchorage and woke in the morning to read the sign “BEWARE OF THE BULL”. True, but her other name was “Bog-rot”. What can you expect?
There is something hypnotic about cows lying in a field gently chewing their cuds and no doubt ruminating on the subject of their porous legs.
Perhaps the sheepish sheep, poised ponies and composed cows were visited by an unearthly realisation – that they were in the presence of greatness. Or perhaps they’d all emerged from an alfresco performance of St Matthew Passion. Or perhaps it was hot and they were over-dressed..