Cubes (aka Treats)

Who would have thought that cows like treats, maybe as much as or more than dogs! Treats seem to transform them – they start to “fight” or show who is boss. It’s also a way to corral them or get them to follow.

My dad used to love to throw a bag of cubes to the cattle. This can be risky business as they seem to “smell” these cubes even if they are in the remotest parts of the woods. They start mooing and stampeding and although they are docile animals, their size is daunting. Get out of the way now!

I’m assuming these are like catnip for cats. I’ve never seen a cow or bull that doesn’t fight over a cube. They will hang around for hours after the scene of the crime. And they come back hours after – just in case there might be some random unclaimed cube hiding in the brush.

I’ve seen the true cowboys lure the herd with calls and cubes. It’s a work of art and never ceases to amaze me. Cows are smart but they are willing to fall into this trap almost always. Except for once when a friend came to pick up a few longhorn calves – Red, who had a calf of her own, decided she wasn’t going into the pen no matter what kind of elixir cube we had to offer. Some of the other calves decided to stay back as well. Needless to say it was an unsuccessful day – cows 1, humans 0.

Mamas and Their Babies

Cow Curiousity