Menoturals; A Mooment Of Your Time

It's FFF/Nature Friday time again, and this is when I like to present you with something just a little bit more challenging/educational/entertaining/... or at least try!

As for today's title.................

Yes, it's about cattle. Specifically, today, the very famous Highland Cattle—almost always referred to as the 'Hielan' Coo' even when it's a bull—but don't get me started on the differences between bulls and cows.

I had the perfect photo op at Drum Castle, and I know quite a few of my readers are equally fond of farm critters. 

You might look at this one above and have a question mark in your mind. Be reassured, this is most definitely a Highland Cow. She is showing true conformation back to the very original type of the breed. Black was the colour of our true cow's hair! Also, the coat is shed in the summer - for obvious reasons - thus looking less hairy and shaggy than is often seen. Now, the black may have been dominant and was certainly true of the Kyloe (the Hebridean and west coast members of the breed), but in the Highlands and toward the northeast, the coat colour tended more to brindle and dun. Genetics from interbreeding between the Highland and the Island cattle resulted in the reddish tones that, legend has it, Queen Victoria so admired. As she did admire it, and as it was considered necessary always to please QV, then farmers started to breed for specific red. Nowadays, there is quite a variety of colours to be found, and obtaining those colours is very scientific!

How, then, does one tell a bull from a cow - if one cannot see the obvious? It's all in the horns. Of course, a bull quite possibly has a nose ring, which is a bit of a giveaway. Many don't, though. So look at the head. The brow/crown will be quite a bit stronger and squarer than that of a cow, and the horns will be set at a downward angle. The cow horns are set either straight out or upward and it is rare indeed to find a cow with down-turned horns.

Did you know that a gathering of Highland Cattle is not referred to as a herd, like other cattle, but as a FOLD? This dates back to when the beasts were brought into 'the fold', a circular drystone-walled pen, for protection from severe weather and wolves.

Highland Cattle are very hardy, and most weather doesn't bother them, nor does rough, high ground. They are actually very good conservation animals, browsing the hillsides in a manner that propagates natural species growth and helps to maintain the environments in which they graze.

They are also considered to be generally very good-natured and relatively easily handled. This is why quite a lot of farmers' wives and children like to keep at least one or two as pets and for showing. Of course, like most farm animals, the fate of the majority is to provide milk and meat...

If you would like to look at even cuter photos than these (and significantly better quality), then do pop over to the Highland Cattle Society page!