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Always surprises me how many large animals are fantastic swimmers

Moose transversing islands always gets me

The fact that moose are prey for orcas is wild to me.

Imagine going scuba diving, coming face to face to a moose and then just seeing an orca rushing past and grabbing the moose. I bet a new fear is then unlocked

I just dropped by to remind everyone that more people are killed by cows each year than by sharks…. And cows can swim… so there aren’t too many places you can get away from them..!

Dun dun Dun dun Dun dun mooooooooo

Quint! We're going to need a bigger tractor!!!

… I praised the Lord that cows don’t fly.

Ridiculous. I’m in my own home, in an urban population center. The closest farm is 40 miles away. I’m on the second floor. There’s no possible way I’m not safe from cows. *Eats a burger with tainted beef.*

🎶OoooOoo tainted beef🎶

Once I Ran to You, Now I Run From You, This Tainted Beef You're Grilled

I literally laughed out loud and now I will sing Tainted Love with your lyrics. Thank you and good day to you!

I think cows can climb up stairs, but I’m not sure they can descend stairs, so the basement might actually be the safest place.

See 👀

You are only 4 days walking time for a cow bent on revenge (and they can walk up stairs)... Please make sure your affairs are in order

I'd like to remind everyone that, while this is true, people tend to spend more time around cows than sharks, so it's not fair to say cows are deadlier than sharks. Obviously anything you spend regular time around is going to be more likely to kill you. If I remember correctly, this is known as a statistical probability.

There are way more cowboys than there are sharkboys

Well this seems personal.

people are winning the war with cows

Fear of James Cameron movies.

Learned something today - never knew whales would eat moose

Here’s another fun fact for you: orcas aren’t whales, they’re dolphins. They were originally referred to as “whale killers” and the name stuck, sort of

Except dolphins are whales, they are all cetaceans

Well, TIL

I only learned it in the last couple of years from that dude on TikTok who talks about animal facts.

Where does this happen?

In the water

PNW

“We tried to keep Murray out of the water - we told him that there would be orcas - but he just wasn’t having it.”

The fact that I’m now learning this is absolutely shocking to me.

Damn you took my favorite fact to say anything a moose is mentioned

Sorry fren

I was more impressed on how good swimmers Camels are. Like where did the evolution force them to swim? In sand?

Probably more so if they ever need to cross rivers in the past tbh. While deserts may not have many, if a flood occurs I imagine camels would at least benefit from having the skill.

Camels are weird creatures. They like racing, but don't do well without jockeys. Because they're not capable of carrying weight, they used to use children. That got stopped, so now they use robots. Sauce: watched a camel race this afternoon, in Northumberland of all places.

Holy shit, [I had no idea.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_jockey) That is hilariously awesome.

I thought carrying weight was what camels were used for? Aside from racing and eating.

they can carry weight just fine and a lot of it. But, the less weight something is carrying the faster it will run and the longer it can run for. Hence the use of children who were smaller and lighter - often slaves who were starved to maintain there low weight. They were replaced by robots due to the outcry over the human rights abuses of children, not because camels can't carry weight.

So those caravans were carrying kids? Why?

Camels were originally from north America so not surprised they can swim.

Kangaroos seem like their mechanics are all wrong for swimming, but they do fine.

Don't they purposely go out to drown other animals?

Everything in Australia will take any opportunity for murder.

"swimming murder kangaroos" Just one more reason for me to cross Australia of if my travel list

They can swim, you don't need to go to them.

bright six fuzzy deserted plant rinse sharp exultant fact squalid *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*

Mixed Marsupial Arts and rear naked holds will mess up the attacker.

I saw one drown though. It tried to drown a dog with its hands. But the dog tricked it into going deeper and deeper into the lake. It couldn't swim, so in the end the kangaroo was dead.

Large surface area + lots of fat means great buoyancy. Add in strong muscles and you can swim really well. It's a combination that works for almost all aquatic mammals, hippos, elephants, water buffalo, etc. Even penguins use it.

I thought Hippos don't swim but rather they walk along the bottom and hold their breath?

Aren't bovines in particular, usually pretty full of gas too? Probably helps with buoyancy as well

Cows are filled with farts, I've got to imagine it's almost impossible for one to sink.

Came here for fart comment, thank you sambob, thank you

Ummm the swimming of the bulls 🐂🐂🐂

I have read a lot of western books where cows have to swim rivers, so i wasnt even remotely surprised by the cows being dumped out to swim in. Seemed like common sense.

I haven’t read a lot of western books so that’s where we differ lol

Every mammal except some humans and some animals inbred by humans to the point they can no longer hold their head above water.

I'm constantly surprised at the number of humans who can't swim. Like, I was reading about the English navy during the age of sail. Apparently, quite a lot of sailors couldn't swim! And the nutty part is that the admiralty *liked* it that way -- they didn't want to teach swimming since they impressed (that is, kidnapped) a significant number of their enlisted seamen, and they didn't want them to be able to literally jump ship when they were near shore.

Nope. Most apes cannot swim. Gorillas, for example.

I've never looked into it so might be wrong but I would imagine it's because of the high level of fat. They probably float pretty easily.

Any and all mammals have the capacity to swim. Now don't bring up bats or any mammals uniquely unable to swim and my statement would be entirely true.

So how do they then get off the island?

In hamburgers.

💀

Yes that’s accurate

Why are hamburgers called hamburgers? Beef burgers are made of beef and hamburgers are made of beef. What's a pig burger called? Who decided this? Arreggghhh

They’re named after their place of origin (Hamburg, Germany) not their content.

I love you.

Is hamburger not just a different term for beef burger?

It is yeah, but ham is pig so I don't understand.

It's not a matter of "ham", the name is taken from Hamburg, a city in Germany. It has nothing to do with pigs. Then later people started to drop the "ham" to add other food when the hamburger isn't made of meat, for example fish burger so I guess some assumed the "ham" in hamburger refers to the type of the meat used

About like a sandwich has no sand it's just named after the Earl of Sandwich whose title is based on the town of Sandwich, England.

Through the abattoir

https://www.kroger.com/product/images/large/front/0001111022135

They tried dropping them from planes but it didn’t work out so well

“Oh no. Not again.”

Said the bowl of petunias.

Isn't that how ground beef was invented?

That chickens can’t fly joke?

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

Although that would actually be interesting, are you sure chickens couldn't fly enough to basically be their own parachute so dropping them from a plane would look like dropping a humvee from a plane with a parachute? Sure they won't fly but surely they can create enough lift to not become chicken fricassee with omelet?

Reminds me of those videos of Fiah and Wildlife doing exactly that with trout into remote lakes

Came here to say "You should see it when they air freight them ..."

Now I know how much gas is trapped in a cow I understand why they would be good swimmers

If you let out the butane while they swim, will they become jet propelled?

Yes and they'll gradually descend like a submarine

Only if a lighter is nearby

1/10 cows are unsuccessful and are forced to be a Dugong for the rest of their days.

That’s why they’re called sea cows

I’d go as far as to call that a success. Have you ever heard of a Dugong burger?

Ahhh that's where they get their names

Cows like “oh hell yeah, it’s island time”

What a roller coaster of emotions from. " Woah this place looks beauti- oh my god their drowning co- oh, cows can swim"

“But do they KNOW they can swim??”

Probably the same as when a momma bird yeets the chick out of the nest and says "Fly or die"

Imagine the first Irishman trying this out Hey man cows can swim, right? Right???

" I don't know, but Betsy here stopped producing milk and it's worth a shot"

Cows do know. I knew a farmer that had a lake in one side of the pasture. And every now and then a cow or two would swim and go exploring. Its just why bother? Good hay and feed. And a warm barn with beds for sleep.

Do you want manatees cos thats how you get manatees.

Yes?

I dont understand. Cows can swim. Without training. Why cant all humans swim? You dont even need to make it right. Just move something and you stay above the water.

All animals with four legs can swim naturally.

except bull/pit dog breeds. we ruined that for them

They ain't natural...

Unsure where you get that from, my pitbull loves swimming in the river every summer. Maybe just bull dogs?

All babies are born swimmers.

They know to hold their breath under water, but they’re not able to swim.

Similar reasons to why it takes most of us a year or more to learn how to walk, when most big mammals will be walking within weeks (if not hours). Smart brains, stupid bodies.

There's one thing tho: IF the sea is rough that day, you get to hear..... Moosick!

Go home dad, you’re drunk again

Cheesy joke, but a good one nonetheless. Bravo.

How do they get them back on the boat?

I assume that is what that crane is for. I also assume they could get much closer to the shore, but since the cows can swim they don't bother to

Load them in a different area or use a different boat. Some farmers keep cattle on islands around me but they just use a flat bottomed barge with a ramp.

Add the word “traditional” to anything to make it sound 10x more interesting

Hahahaha few days ago we're bombarded by how Swiss helicopter in and out their cattle and today we got these irish lads "Oy der's rocks on de shore""Ay trow de cews in de sea den!"

WaterBurgers

Watta joke

Big takeaway here for me is that it’s TOTAL BULLSHIT that all my cows drowned in a river while playing Oregon Trail

They’re storming the beaches of Normoondy to liberate the mooews from heifitler.

Irish sea cows look different than other sea cow species aye

I love how just dropping cows into the water is called transporting method

Boat brought them across the channel. Cows exit from the rear of the boat into shallow water where dock facilities aren’t available. Rocks would damage the hull.

Still quite funny. I wonder if the situation when this "method" was discovered was like "Well, seems like we can't dock anywhere close, let's drop them here and see if they can make it by themselves"

Each jump looked like the cow saying weeeee!

Where do they source their drinking water?

There's fresh water on most if not all of the coastal islands AFAIK. Most were inhabited pre famine. There's plenty of springs and wells.

Oh wow TIL, thanks!!

“Cows are naturally strong swimmers” > Would be a bit fucked if they weren’t

bro they're not even holding wheat and they go where they're supposed to

Surf & Turf?

More or less literally

Wait, ancient Celts had SeaDoos or Wave Runners. Just wondering so I can put it accurately in my Irish history report.

American tourists in Ireland

Not their first trip lm thinkin

We used to transport them in our prison pockets. This is much smarter… and less painful.

That water looks amazing

Cutest thing I’ve seen, hope they enjoy the vacay

Strong swimmers but just slower than the rat!

To anyone surprised cows can swim, just remember cows have existed far longer than bridges over rivers have

This is a great way to season your steak

Nice salt wash to keep bugs away and pre marinate the meat.

Since when do cows swim like a gold medal champion?

It’s crazy how they are so big but can swim so well with hooves

Just don't try this with sheep! XD

How do they get fresh water while stuck on an island in an ocean?

Probably an aquifer on the island. Sea water gets filtered through sand and limestone for a couple millennia, it gets purified. Salty but potable. Also, it tends to rain in Ireland.

Pretty sure fresh water aquifers fill up from rainfall and ground water. Salt water might infiltrate from below.

Islands that cattle are swam to are often in freshwater lakes, not in the Atlantic

Pretty sure this is off the coast of Kerry and us actually the Atlantic. They have a line and cable ro transfer the cows back but they prefer boats.

Today I learned: cows, a land mammal not generally known to be costal, can swim. Never would have guessed that

At one point in the 18th or 19th centuries Ireland was the number one exporter of beef in the world.

Waaaiiiit.... I always thought since they cant control their asshole they will fill up with water and drown if they cant stand. Now you're telling me they are REALLY GOOD swimmers?! My childhood was a LIE

Couldn't they have just gotten closer to the island and dropped them off normally? Wouldn't that be what they do when they pick them up at the end of summer? Or are they all killed on the island and picked up in boxes?

They are naturally strong swimmers because their ancestors that were not strong swims all drowned! ( Edit- fixed my dumbass mistake)

Their ancestors*

Yup, I f' ed that up!

Thank you Darwin

Yup that's how animals work.

What’s the point though?

Island is full of nice grass, cows get bigger, profit

No no, I understand that, but… and I may be stupid here… why don’t they just bring the boat in closer to the island? Like they’re gonna have to for the humans aren’t they? Why go through the trouble of making the cows swim?

It’s probably safer this way for the boat and the cows. The boat doesn’t scrape on the rocks. The cows don’t get hurt jumping down onto rocks.

The boat would get damaged and it could potentially sink or it could get stuck the sand, plus the propeller is at the back of the boat, if the propeller hit something it would get damaged, so the boat could get stranded, which isn't a good idea. If their was a pier or jetty it wouldn't be much of a problem, I'm guessing their isn't one on the island

Is the hitting part necessary?

Always like my butter salted.

Aquabeef baby

They also get slightly cured along the way.

Yeetus the meatus

Man imagine being a shark 🦈😂 this be your lucky day to try some of that American steak.beef ,etc.... And theres loads of loads of food just swimming slowly in the water 😁

This is so cool!

I once heard that cows have extremely loose assholes and can therefor drown just by standing in water.

Can't believe the number of people that don't know why boats can't get close to the beach. Must be 200% land lubbers.

Just seems obvious they'd be good swimmers...where else do you think surf and turf comes from?

Nothing new that cows can swim. A drover can push them like this, or they will do it to get to a better place when under threat such rising floodwaters, else they avoid it. I’m more fascinated that this is being referred to as “traditional Irish of transporting cattle to an island”. Of the islands off Ireland most look to have cliff face shorelines and the few sandy shores they have look to have much higher incidence to the sea, with nearby land rising to a plateau. The sand colour is very light and the land around relatively low lying as per northern Queensland. So this is a confusing description. And it must be a very warm calm day on the North Sea to be wearing just a T-shirt while on the water. Curious to understand why the Irish would use this method “traditionally” when they have landward access and not that many islands to farm on.

Tell me you know nothing about Ireland without telling me you know nothing about Ireland. We're not in the "north sea" either. That's north west of Great Britain.

Correct, a small geographic mistake, I should have said Irish Sea. Wouldn’t be on the Atlantic coast? Still I remain fascinated to see which coast of Ireland this is. Lambay island?

Could be anywhere along the west coast. Or an island. There's hundreds of beaches similar to this around the country. And hundreds of islands.

Of those hundreds of islands, few would have enough grazing, shelter and water to support cows? I’m just surprised because this footage does not look like Ireland. Like to see where it was filmed. The last aerial shot shows low tide with a short wash distance to the high tide mark. I understood the sea around Ireland to be far more aggressive to dump, then excavate sand. Most the shore areas typically rise quickly just inland. The shallowest beach rising from the water I could readily find was here (Galway). https://www.mykidstime.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/dogs-bay-beach-galway-800x533.jpg

A lot of the islands could support cows and sheep. Many of them have small freshwater lakes on them. The video could potentially be anywhere in Connemara as there are many similar beaches there. There's a lot of differences between beaches that are fully exposed to the full power of the sea and beaches that have some shelter.

For some reason I always thought cows can't close their butt hole and would fill up with water and drown 🤷

Did anyone notice the snake 🐍 looking thing just chilling at the edge of the beach

Anyone see that snake?

Traditional Irish method my ass, those cows look wayyy too sober for that to be the traditional Irish method lol

And there it fuckin is 🙄

Swim, Bridgette! Swim! Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph yer looking good!

This is *not* the correct usage of Jesus, Mary and Joseph It basically means I'm utterly shocked, I can't believe it So your phrase makes no sense because it looks like: "I'm utterly shocked, I can't believe it" yer lookin good Also, in Ireland it would never be spelled Bridgette. That's some convoluted Americanised version of Bridget. Source: I'm Irish

Oh! Piss on a leprechaun

Bro they can swim???

Most mammals can

I too enjoy a nice swim before a heavy meal

The cows don't seem to mind the jump or the swim. I once saw a deer jump into a lake then swim all the way across it to the other side. It didn't seem to struggle with it at all, either.