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Home » Is Cow Tipping a Real Thing?

Is Cow Tipping a Real Thing?

By Marybeth Feutz 8 Comments

Have you ever been cow tipping? Could you tip a cow if you wanted to? It might not be quite as easy as you think…

Is Cow Tipping A Real Thing? from My Fearless Kitchen. Have you ever been cow tipping? Could you tip a cow if you wanted to? It might not be quite as easy as you think...

Is Cow Tipping a Real Thing?

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So the premise behind cow tipping is that you get together with a group of friends in the middle of the night. There may or may not be alcohol involved. You sneak into a field full of sleeping cows. You carefully sneak up to one cow, who is asleep standing up, and you push her until she tips over. Funny, right?

My son’s favorite movie (today) is Disney’s Cars. His favorite scene is the one where Mater and Lightning go into the field and tip the tractors. He loves Frank the combine.

So… can you really tip a cow?

What do you think? Does this cow look like she wants to be tipped?

Is Cow Tipping A Real Thing? from My Fearless Kitchen. Have you ever been cow tipping? Could you tip a cow if you wanted to? It might not be quite as easy as you think...

Is It Safe to Go Cow Tipping?

First, let’s bust out a few safety issues here. Getting into a field full of cows, if it isn’t your field, is trespassing. So there’s that. And chances are pretty good that the fence keeping those cows in the field is an electric fence. Which means you’ll get a pretty good shock if you try to climb it.

And if you happen to get into a field with a mean cow, or with momma cows being protective of their babies, or a with a bull, there’s a pretty good chance that the cow or bull will charge you… and trust me, you will get hurt if the cattle catch you. Cattle are pretty curious animals, and typically aren’t mean. But if you threaten their babies (or their ladies), they’ll try to protect the family.

Is Cow Tipping A Real Thing? from My Fearless Kitchen. Have you ever been cow tipping? Could you tip a cow if you wanted to? It might not be quite as easy as you think...

OK. So I hope I’ve convinced you that it’s not safe to go cow tipping. But if it were safe…. could you tip a cow?

Can You Tip a Cow?

Remember, the entire premise of cow tipping is that cows sleep standing up. And that you could sneak up on one without waking her up.

Well, guess what… cows don’t sleep standing up!

That’s right… cows lie down to sleep!

Horses (and other equine species like donkeys and mules) can sleep standing up. They have a special set of muscles and tendons in their legs called the stay apparatus. This allows them to lock their legs while they are standing, and they can fall asleep. Cattle don’t have a stay apparatus. So if they did fall asleep while they were standing up, they would fall over! (And they would wake up before they hit the ground, so that’s not really “tipping” either.)

Is Cow Tipping A Real Thing? from My Fearless Kitchen. Have you ever been cow tipping? Could you tip a cow if you wanted to? It might not be quite as easy as you think...

Now let’s talk about the second part – could you sneak up on a cow without waking her up? Cattle are prey animals, which means they are always on alert for a potential predator. And they think you are a potential predator. So even if the entire herd of cattle are sleeping when you sneak into the field (which we’ve already established is trespassing and dangerous), they will wake up when they hear or smell you. And they will hear or smell you. As you get closer, the whole herd of cows will get up and wander away from you.

Sorry guys, cow tipping isn’t a real thing.

What else do you want to know about cows? Leave me a comment below, and I’ll answer – or maybe turn it into another post!

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Filed Under: Cattle, Where is My Food From? Tagged With: beef cow, cow, dairy cow, farm

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Comments

  1. Betsy @ Desserts Required says

    03/08/2016 at 9:22 pm

    I am cracking up reading this one. I LOVE IT!!! Truthfully, I thought cow tipping was a real thing. Then again, I grew up in Cleveland and have lived my entire adult life in South Florida so I really didn’t have a clue!

  2. Marybeth Feutz says

    03/09/2016 at 9:33 am

    I’m so glad you enjoyed the post! (and that you learned a little something!) Thanks for stopping by, Betsy!

  3. Brandie says

    03/09/2016 at 3:05 pm

    Haaaa! I had no idea! But, I have heard a few gross stories involving cow patties. Lol Thank you for the lesson!

  4. Marybeth Feutz says

    03/09/2016 at 3:09 pm

    Oh, you definitely need to watch out for cow patties! They are big, slimy, and slippery! 😉

  5. Dee says

    12/31/2017 at 12:31 pm

    Haaa! Having read you post on cow tipping cracked me up! I’ve heard stories about that my whole life. My Dad and Grandad had a dairy farm when I was very young and I would look at those HUGE animals and wonder, humm. Having said that, watch my favorite farm show with Dr. Pol and crew and watch how they do it and why. Scary but funny, too, and always for a life saving reason. Thanks for the memory nudge. Dee

  6. Marybeth Feutz says

    01/05/2018 at 9:23 am

    So glad you enjoyed it!

Trackbacks

  1. 5 Things I Love About Farm Life - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    02/14/2018 at 1:31 pm

    […] Is Cow Tipping a Real Thing? […]

  2. Green Tomato Pasta Salad - My Fearless Kitchen says:
    08/17/2018 at 4:33 pm

    […] trek down from Indianapolis with her family to check out our farm. While everyone wanted to see the cows, Katy loves to garden so we spent most of the visit talking about our (extremely large) garden and […]

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Hi! I'm Marybeth, the blogger behind My Fearless Kitchen! Jump in, and let me share what I'm learning about food, farming, quick kitchen tips, and easy recipes to chase the fear out of YOUR kitchen! Read more.
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