My dear city folk and others,  Those of us who have grown up with cows know
that they are really quite stupid and curious.  They will ingest most
anything--that's what keeps vets fat and happy here in the boonies.  There
is an actual condition that cows can get, and most do to one degree or
another, called "hardware disease."  The cure is to put a magnet down the
cow's gullet into the first rumin, stomach to the uninitiated.  The magnet
sits there and gathers all the ferous objects that the cow takes in to keep
it from trying to move further along the digestive tract and cause real
damage.  More than you really wanted to know, I'm sure, Ruth





At 2:09 PM -0500 1/20/03, Heidi Harendza wrote:
>In a message dated 1/15/2003 5:05:52 PM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask]
>writes:
>
><< includes tape measures...the metal ones. >>
>
>I've had more than a nodding acquaintance with cows this fall, since my work
>has mainly involved recording historic Pennsylvania German buildings for the
>Vernacular Architecture Forum conference.  A significant number of those
>buildings include barns, and many of them have been working barns, complete
>with the whole range of farm animals.
>
>I must have been a good girl this year-- I didn't have to measure in the cow
>muck. I pulled spider-man detail measuring hay lofts. My poor friend
>Rochelle, though, didn't get quite so lucky. She had to measure ankle deep in
>cow sludge-- really tiresome when you drop 50' of measuring tape in it.
>
>Now.... measuring a chicken house while the chickens are in residence is one
>thing-- at least the chickens tend to keep to themselves. But the cows are a
>different story. Apparently Bessie thought the measuring tape looked really
>tasty, and bit straight through a 25' metal tape while Rochelle's team was
>measuring. With no ill effects.
>
>-Heidi
--
Ruth Barton
[log in to unmask]
Westminster, VT

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