Cow


Cows are magnetic

Well, not really magnetic, but they do tend to align themselves to the Earth’s magnetic field. A scientist has researched the alignment of herds of cows using images from Google Earth. His results show that herds of cattle and deer will, when standing still, all align themselves north-south. However, disruptions of the local magnetic field, such as those caused by powerlines, upset their senses and they tend to point in random directions. This effect becomes less pronounced the further away from the powerlines the cattle are.


Our garden needs a mini cow to keep it mown

Smaller breeds of cattle are the next big thing, allowing people to keep a few cows if their back garden is big enough. The Times writes about Dexters, miniature “cottagers’ Cows” from Ireland, which are about the size of an Alsation and produce up to 16 pints of milk a day.

In truth the garden is probably too small, even for a mini moo, and the fences to flimsy. But the lawn’s not flat enough to run a mower over it effectively and we have to cut the gras somehow.


Theme from Cow

My enthusiasm for cow spotting waned earlier this month, partly because of the weather but also because of the elusive nature of the remaining bovines. So yesterday, whilst wandering around getting pictures for this week’s Cycling on the Pavement I thought I should track down a few.

I found one that’s definitely new to me.

Two I may have shot before but they’ve moved or I didn’t cross them off the list.

And three that have realised that life is far better up North and have moved into Urban Splash.



Some cows just haven’t turned up at all. The nice lady at Simply Heathcotes told me they were still waiting for theirs. (Though that may just have been a ploy to get the tramp out of their lobby.)


Two Wheels Good

Got a good thirty miles or so of cycling done yesterday. It’s quite a good mood stabiliser- for me anyway- I was beginning to feel a bit crap after a week of small disappointments.

I went out to Harpurhey, Crumpsall and Heaton Park, but I could only find the Crumpsall cow. Ickle has managed to get a picture of Freda, the Harpurhey bovine, maybe I’ll just nick it from him. I also found Veera the Volunteera, who isn’t listed on the Cow Map.

Then I went off for a potter with Damian in the evening, discovering hidden parts of Manchester along a cycle path laid along old railway lines. Given that this city is the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and criss-crossed by these wonderful routes. We came up with a plan for a sort of Top Gear for cycling, which I shall expand upon later.


Cow Punching

The bovine terrorists have started attacking two year olds. Fearing for my safety, I headed off to get the Wythenshawe and Airport Moos. The shiney new Forum is very impressive, but if it needs to have the lights on on a day as bright as this then there’s something wrong.

I’ve never actually flown out of Manchester Airport, only gone to drop people off and pick them up. And I’ve only ever gone there via the M56, so I got lost trying to cycle from Wythenshawe to Ringway. But it was a nice kind of lost, particularly on a day this sunny. I managed to get six of the seven cows, Alphadite is airside and I really didn’t want to piss off Police with guns. If anyone’s flying out of Manchester before September can they try to get me a picture please.

And then I went to pay homage to Concorde, seeing as I was in the area. I also found the cutest little Vampire. I think I want one.