copyedit lede for NPOV: "...implication that a cow can be pushed over and not stand up again is incorrect..." and "...generally viewed..." |
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[[File:Cow lying on side.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A healthy cow lying on its side is not immobilized; it can rise whenever it chooses.]] |
[[File:Cow lying on side.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A healthy cow lying on its side is not immobilized; it can rise whenever it chooses.]] |
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'''Cow tipping''' is the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright [[Cattle|cow]] and pushing it over for entertainment. The practice of cow tipping is generally considered an [[urban legend]].<ref>{{citation|title=American Folklore: An Encyclopedia|author=Jan Harold Brunvand|p=354|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1996|isbn=0815333501|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJuvqhxFXH8C&pg=354}}</ref> Unless injured, cows routinely lie down and can easily regain their footing. The implication that [[Rural area|rural]] citizens seek such entertainment due to lack of other alternatives is viewed as a [[stereotype]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Winter|first1=Sam A.|title=Who You Calling a Hick?: Treatise of a Disgruntled Kansan|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2003/3/6/who-you-calling-a-hick-i/|accessdate=28 December 2014|work=The Harvard Crimson|date=March 6, 2003}}</ref> |
'''Cow tipping''' is the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright [[Cattle|cow]] and pushing it over for entertainment. The practice of cow tipping is generally considered an [[urban legend]] although some have claimed to perform it.<ref>{{citation|title=American Folklore: An Encyclopedia|author=Jan Harold Brunvand|p=354|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1996|isbn=0815333501|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJuvqhxFXH8C&pg=354}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Cow tipping? Probably bull.|newspaper=The Roanoke Times|location=Roanoke, VA|date=September 6, 2006|author=Joe Eaton|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-150987528.html|via=[[HighBeam]] {{subscription required}}}}</ref> Unless injured, cows routinely lie down and can easily regain their footing. The implication that [[Rural area|rural]] citizens seek such entertainment due to lack of other alternatives is viewed as a [[stereotype]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Winter|first1=Sam A.|title=Who You Calling a Hick?: Treatise of a Disgruntled Kansan|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2003/3/6/who-you-calling-a-hick-i/|accessdate=28 December 2014|work=The Harvard Crimson|date=March 6, 2003}}</ref> |
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==Scientific study== |
==Scientific study== |
Revision as of 02:50, 29 November 2015
Cow tipping is the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright cow and pushing it over for entertainment. The practice of cow tipping is generally considered an urban legend although some have claimed to perform it.[1][2] Unless injured, cows routinely lie down and can easily regain their footing. The implication that rural citizens seek such entertainment due to lack of other alternatives is viewed as a stereotype.[3]
Scientific study
The urban legend of cow tipping relies upon the presumption that cattle are slow-moving, dim-witted, and weak-legged, thus easily pushed over without much force. Some versions of the legend suggest that because cows sleep standing up, it is possible to approach them and push them over without the animals reacting.[4] However, cows only sleep lightly while standing up, and they are easily awoken from this state.[5] Furthermore, numerous sources have questioned the practice's feasibility, since most cows weigh over half a ton, and easily resist any lesser force.[5][6]
A 2005 study led by Margo Lillie, a zoologist at the University of British Columbia, concluded that tipping a cow would require an exertion of 2,910 newtons (654.2 lbf) of force,[4] and is therefore impossible to accomplish by a single person. Her calculations found that it would take at least two people to apply enough force to push over a cow if the cow did not react and reorient its footing. If the cow did react, it would take at least four people to push it over. Lillie noted that cattle are well aware of their surroundings and are very difficult to surprise, due to excellent senses of both smell and hearing,[5][7][8][9] but that according to laws of static physics, "two people might be able to tip a cow" if the cow were "tipped quickly—the cow's centre of mass would have to be pushed over its hoof before the cow could react".[10] The Lillie study has been replicated by other researchers, who confirmed that at least two to four people can, in fact, push over a cow.[11]
Historical origins
The belief that certain animals cannot rise if pushed over has historical antecedents, though cattle have never been so classified. Julius Caesar and Pliny record a belief that European moose had no knee joints and could not get up if they fell over.[12][13][14] This belief may relate to the ancient custom of trapping moose in steep-sided pits.[citation needed]
In 1255, Louis IX of France gave an elephant to Henry III of England for his menagerie in the Tower of London. Drawn from life by the historian Matthew Paris for his Chronica Majora, it can be seen in his bestiary at Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, with an accompanying text revealing that at the time, Europeans believed that elephants did not have knees and so were unable to get up if they fell over. The bestiary contains a drawing depicting an elephant on its back being dragged along the ground by another elephant, with a caption stating that elephants lacked knees.[15]
In popular culture
The term cow tipping is sometimes used as a figure of speech for pushing over something big. In A Giant Cow-Tipping by Savages, author John Weir Close uses the term to describe contemporary mergers and acquisitions.[16] An article in USA Today uses the phrase "urban cow tipping" to describe a form of vandalism involving small cars flipped on their sides.[17]
See also
References
- ^ Jan Harold Brunvand (1996), American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, p. 354, ISBN 0815333501
- ^ Joe Eaton (September 6, 2006), "Cow tipping? Probably bull.", The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA – via HighBeam (subscription required)
- ^ Winter, Sam A. (March 6, 2003). "Who You Calling a Hick?: Treatise of a Disgruntled Kansan". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ^ a b Haines, Lester (9 November 2005). "Boffins debunk cow-tipping myth". The Register. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ^ a b c Malvern, Jack (November 5, 2005). "Cow-tipping myth hasn't got a leg to stand on". London: Times Online. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ Semke, Matt. "The Statics of Cow Tipping". UNL College of Engineering and Mechanics Course Project. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
- ^ Colebourn, John (November 9, 2005). "Debunking rural myth of cow tipping: It's udder nonsense, academics contend". Montreal Gazette. pp. A10.
- ^ Ian Denomme, "Cow-tipping a mooo-yth?", The Gazette (Western Daily Student Newspaper), November 9, 2005. (retrieved on January 12, 2009)
- ^ Eddie Glenn, "Cow-tipping: Myth or reality?", Tahlequah Daily Press, December 15, 2006. (retrieved on January 12, 2009).
- ^ Haines, Lester (9 November 2005). "Boffins debunk cow-tipping myth". The Register UK. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ^ Semke, Matt. "The Statics of Cow Tipping". UNL College of Engineering and Mechanics Course Project. Retrieved 2007-04-17. ("According to these numbers, cow tipping is possible when two people are in on the prank.")
- ^ Caesar, Julius; Aulus Hirtius (1879). "XXVII". Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic and civil wars. Harper & brothers. p. 154. ISBN 0-217-45287-6.
- ^ https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10657/pg10657.txt
- ^ "Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, Henry Thomas Riley)". Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
- ^ Willene B. Clark, A medieval book of beasts, p.128
- ^ Pinkerton, Stewart (December 12, 2013). "Book Review: A Giant Cow-Tipping by Savages, by John Weir Close". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ Deutsch, Lindsey; Associated Press (April 8, 2014). "Urban Cow Tipping? Vandals Turn Over Smart Cars in San Francisco". USA Today Network. Gannett. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
Further reading
- Jake Swearingen (September 4, 2013), "Cow Tipping: Fake or Really Fake?", Modern Farmer
- The Official Cow Tipper's Handbook: The Original Cow Tipping Guide for Serious Cow Tippers, Falling Lane Publishers, 2005, ISBN 9780977487608
{{citation}}
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(help) - Pat Linse (1999), "Cow Tipping: The Most Urban of all Urban Legends", Skeptic, no. 7.2