Holy Cow!

We've got cows in the news this week. I love odd news, don't you? Apparently, a farmer in British Columbia found that one of his cows was about to give birth, and soon she did. He noticed yet another set of hooves, and soon delivered a second calf. Later, when he returned to check on her, he found she had delivered yet a third calf. Cows give birth to twins every so often, but the odds of a cow giving birth to triplets range from one in 10,000, to one in 105,000! Mama cows can only nurse two calves, so one was given away to friends (and is being bottle fed).

Another heifer named Molly apparently escaped a Montana slaughterhouse leading folks on a six-hour chase. She raced through town (see picture, from the Great Falls Tribune) (I didn't even know that a cow could race!) then jumped into the Missouri River and swam across. The packing plant owner said she did things that cows simply can't do (he's been around cattle his whole life) and that she would definately be spared. After all that, I should hope so! Now she has a quiet life to look forward to; either in Montana pastureland or an animal sanctuary in Seattle. It goes to show what a little determination will do!