11/18/2003: Cow magnets
 

http://cellar.org/2003/cowmags.jpg

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.

lol....this was my first thought....that and those metal travelling pens...what happens if they sit down?

      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.....

Milking equipment is all stainless steel.:)

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.

Not a problem even if the equipment was steel, the magnets aren't that strong.
No.
None.
No.
After a while, they get back up.
I'm guessing you just toss one in the hay, and let hunger take its course.

Glad I could help.

Naw, with the cows as with lumberjim, you have to insert it manually but with the cows it's the front end.:p

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

hmmm......and if the magnet were really really strong.......and the plate in your head WAS ferrous.......and we got too close together......you could, potentially end up with your head up my ass.......





btw: bruce, if you really DO have a plate in your head, I am SO sorry!

o fuck yeah! R O F friggin L

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.

Naw, just the tinfoil hat....which is really aluminum but don't tell "THEM".:)

Re: 11/18/2003: Cow magnets
 

Am I the only one who wonders why bits of metal hanging around a cow's first stomach for years on end is considered out of the way?! I mean, I'd think you'd want the metal to get outta there somehow, not stay around to possibly puncture an organ or two.

if you really want to know......

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.:vomit:

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.

Bleah! Okay, I really didn't want to know...

Re: low tech constuction tool
 

I had a farmer friend in school who brought one in once, and "bent" the image on the teacher's computer screen....pretty cool.