Cow Tipping

 InfoInfo
Search:    

According to some, cow tipping is just an urban legend and is not actually physically feasible. While a [WWW]loose mathematical interpretation says it is if at least two people are doing the pushing. [WWW]This article about the physics of cow tipping also confirms that at least two people are needed to exert enough force.

Just because it may be possible to do it, however, doesn't mean it will happen. Cows do not sleep standing up, nor do their knees lock like a horses would. They do however "doze". While traditional parts of the Cow Tipping folklore may not be true, there is anecdotal evidence suggesting that you can actually push a cow over - er, go cow tipping - with a small group of people if you are quiet about it. It physically should be possible if you are fast enough to do so before the cow reacts (requiring more people), or if the cow stands there rigidly and lets you.

UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef was emailed about the rumored anti-tipping regulation by KrisFricke on 2006-12 and received the following reply: Student Affairs Vice Chancellor Judy Sakaki will be following up on this and will get back to you. In the meantime, so far as I know there is no "cow tipping" policy or rule on campus. At least I have not run across it during my twenty years here. An urban legend...?

JabberWokky has seen it done in Belle Glade or western Lake Worth in Florida. It also involved a cow that was awake, heavy rope and a pickup truck. It was done by a group of people specifically to prove that it can be done (they did it a few times). The cow went over, got up pissed, and seemed unharmed. Despite the apparent lack of physical harm, it was certainly abuse. Despite the people who insist that there is proof that the "official" way to do it is scientifically impossible (is there an official way to eat an apple or carry a book?), there is an easy way to do it that is actually practiced in rural Florida. It may be touted impossible as a theoretical activity, but empirical evidence trumps even the best math. MichaelGiardina, on the other hand, has a video of former roommates who were less successful. Let's just say the bulls didn't like the idea and chased his friends all about.

AllisonEriksen may have the best statement on the issue with her feeling that cows should be tipped like anyone else would: with 15% of the cost of the service provided.

Cow tipping is supposedly fatal to the cow upon which this cruel activity is rendered, as the cow's internal organs are not designed to withstand the sudden impact of a sideways fall. Cows are also the third most deadly animal in the United States, with only horses and deer killing more people each year. Proceed with caution, or better yet, don't proceed at all with this tipping business...unless it involves the aforementioned Eriksen suggestion, minus the actual physical violence.

Comments:

Note: You must be logged in to add comments


Yes, I know, I'm as shocked as you are - I feel like my whole life has been a lie. Also I'd heard that cow tipping is specifically an expellable offense here at UC Davis, from a source I thought was reliable (maybe my official UC Davis tour as a prospective student four years ago?) - now I want to confirm whether or not this rule is true in light of the impossibility of its realisation. (I think I'm gonna email the chancellor on this) —Kris Fricke

Cow-tipping is widely considered uncool in this town. It is detrimental to the cows and to the humans involved. I think my very first night in the dorms as a freshman, someone asked the RA about how prevalent cow-tipping was here, and the gave them a firm admonishment. I have never heard of it happening or considered doing it since then. —KayRide

I think Cow Tipping being an urban legend is an urban legend. As for it being cause for expulsion at Davis, I hear so is believing that the word 'gulliable' is in the dictionary. - JonerikStorm

Hate to ruin the fun, but cow tipping is an urban myth/legend. You can't tip a 1300 pound animal over, especially since she's going to move before she tips. :( -ImR

It should also be noted that unlike horses, cows' knees do not lock when they sleep. Consequently, sleeping cows are not the immobilized hulks commonly pictured in cow tipping folklore. -KrisFricke

In the act known as cow tipping it is understood that the cow is asleep. Cows do NOT sleep standing up and there is no way one is going to just tip over when it can step away when being pushed. It is an urban legend, made up so that people who know better can watch more gullible people get chased around in a pen full of cow pies. I grew up in dairy country and everyone knew that this was bunk. - AllisonEriksen

Is there any real reason the cow has to be asleep? Why couldn't you just ram it with your (hopefully very inexpensive) car? As long as you're practicing immorality (how would you like it if a cow tipped YOU over, especially if you weighed 3/4 of a ton?) you might as well go whole hog. I'm no physicist, but it seems to me that an oldsmobile traveling 35 mph could topple a cow. I'm not endorsing this, by the way, just mentioning the possibility. - [CadeGrunst]

Why is there such obsession with "tipping over" a cow? Why not a moose or elephant? Perhaps buffalo tipping? Walrus rumping? eh...

2005-12-05 14:41:58   Yes, it can be done. My professors have done it. —MichaelGiardina

2006-02-16 22:04:41   I've tried to tip my friend's cows and it's pretty hard as they tend to wake up/hear you/get angry— we were chased and had to jump over a fence. Besides, there's always the danger the cow will decide to run you down like that one mother did in Point Reyes!! Death by Cow sounds, other than highly ironic, rather painful. —LucyFitzGibbon

2007-01-24 05:11:35   Cow tipping is pretty awesome :D —GreggAlexander

2007-03-08 16:25:31   Hilarious, I grew up in Texas amid a cornicopia of cow-tipping stories told by people with mental capacities lower than their bovine targets. It s so funny how in spite of common sense and psyhics people still say it can happen cause their "friend," told them they did it once —JarrettNoble

2007-03-08 17:25:59   Cows and horses actually make a lot of sense as causes of mortality, but deer? Surely not MOREso than cows and horses? —KrisFricke

2007-03-08 17:41:26   deer through the windshield? Either hitting them and having them go through the windshield, or people swerving to avoid them maybe. Deer are srs bizness. —ES

2007-03-08 17:45:57   Yeah I almost swerved to miss a deer once. After I ran it over I felt bad. But not as bad as I would of if I had crashed my car. —JarrettNoble

2007-10-11 02:57:20   When I first came to Davis, and took the campus tour, I asked about cow tipping. Sadly the guide only had heard of such things, from a friend of a friend, it saddened me, but I am glad I came here none the less. Anyone want to try? —DavidPoole

2007-11-07 11:38:57   On the news right now is a cow who tipped itself off a cliff in Washington, landing on a family filled mini-van. Nobody was killed, but the cow was euthanized on the scene. —GregFurnish

This is a Wiki Spot wiki. Wiki Spot is a non-profit organization that helps communities collaborate via wikis.