I do a lot of research in a day’s time. Between my blog and writing novels, I feel like I am constantly “looking things up.”
With this, there is a certain “body” of interesting facts that consistently pop up. They must be repeated like a gazillion times on the internet because these “tidbits” resurface time and again.
But two of them, in particular, always intrigue me.
But I’ll get to those in a minute.
Right now, I will list some of the others, just to make my point.
Bananas Are Berries, but Strawberries Aren’t: Botanically speaking, bananas qualify as berries because they develop from a flower with a single ovary, while strawberries, despite their name, aren’t berries at all.
Penguins Propose with Pebbles: Gentoo penguins woo their mates by presenting them with carefully selected pebbles.
Otters Hold Hands while Sleeping: To prevent themselves from drifting apart in the water, otters often hold hands (or paws) while they sleep.
Rats Laugh When Tickled: Yes, you read that correctly – rats laugh! When tickled, rats emit high-pitched chirps that scientists have identified as laughter.
And on and on. We’ve heard all of these before. We’ve seen the photos. We know the drill.
But here are the two that always captivate me.
The first.
Cows Have Best Friends: Studies have shown that cows have best friends and get stressed when they are separated.
The reason I question this one is because I wrote about this once in one of my blogs, and a local Preble County farmer said it was bunk. He said cows are pretty dumb and definitely don’t have best friends.
But if you Google “Do cows have best friends?” you will see hundreds of results reporting on studies that tell a different story. These reports suggest that, like humans, cows have unique personalities. They say some cows are more introverted and laid-back, while others are more extroverted and playful. These studies also show that cows with similar dispositions gravitate toward one another. As a result, they forge close relationships. Cow buddies.
I love to think that cows are this way. I love to imagine their life in the pasture, with a pal, eating grass.
So yes. The bottom line to all of these reports is that, essentially, cattle bond like humans do. They’re driven to seek out relationships with like-minded individuals, and they can even form lifelong friendships in the process.
This makes me both happy and remarkably sad. In the order of dairy cows, it is a warm and happy thought. In the order of beef cows, it makes me despondent to think about the day when they part, perhaps not knowing what happened to their lifelong friend. Even now, it causes a big pit in my stomach.
On to the second fact.
Bees Can Recognize Human Faces: Bees aren’t just busy collecting pollen. Studies suggest they’re also pretty good at recognizing human faces.
Apparently, honeybees, who have 0.01% of the neurons that humans do, can recognize and remember individual human faces. Again, many studies and reports have shown this to be true. Bees recognize things in general. Human faces are among those things.
Which takes me on to other questions, about stinging, and such. Last year, I was stung by a wasp, and I am certain this wasp and I had never met before. And all I did was walk out of a door near the wasp’s little figgety-jimmet that hung down from the ceiling of the porch.
Conversely, we used to have bee hives here at the house, and sometimes there would be ten or twenty bees flying around me, none of them ever stinging me. Did they recognize me? Or was it just the fact that honeybees are like the good neighbor and wasps are the guy next door who is always yelling at someone?
Oh, I may never know the answers to these things.
But I do love to explore them. Our world is big. It’s packed to the gill with good facts. And I like to find them.
“”””””””””
“For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.”
― Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
“”””””””””
“Live your life, sing your song. Not full of expectations. Not for the ovations. But for the joy of it.”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru
“”””””””””
“Knowing comes from learning, finding from seeking.”
― Vaddey Ratner
“”””””””””
The bee faces me. And the cow is the pal.
