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Why do cows lick people

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  • 19-05-2010 1:36pm
    #1
    pwd
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭


    Is it for salt in their sweat? Or is it a social thing?


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    #2
    fend
    Registered Users Posts: 661 ✭✭✭fend


    This question makes me happy :D


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    #3
    LBD
    Registered Users Posts: 290 ✭✭LBD


    Itchy tongues? :D


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    #4
    The.Wanderer
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭The.Wanderer


    Hmmm.... Well it can't be purely for salty sweat cos calves will lick your shoes, your elbow (through a coat) etc so there doesn't seem to be a need for skin contact.



    Good question! :rolleyes:


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    #5
    mailforkev
    Registered Users Posts: 1,784 ✭✭✭mailforkev


    Maybe it's like when humans lick toads...


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    #6
    morganafay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,534 ✭✭✭morganafay


    I think they're just tasting people because they want to eat them, to get their own back.


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    #7
    ocokev
    Closed Accounts Posts: 373 ✭✭ocokev


    Horney cows do it best.


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    #8
    convert
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 9,338 Mod ✭✭✭✭convert


    I suspect it's the same reason dogs lick people...















    Actually, why do dogs like people?


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    #9
    fishfoodie
    Registered Users Posts: 564 ✭✭✭fishfoodie


    Its like the said in the Education film on the Simpsons, "Meat and You".
    "If a cow got a chance he'd eat you & everyone you care about !"

    :D:D



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    #10
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,425 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    I've never got close enough (or had the inclination to get close enough) to a cow to let it lick me!

    That having been said, our cats seem to like licking my sweaty feet, and one cat we had even seemed to like sniffing my armpits for some reason. Maybe it's a combination of smell and the saltiness.


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    #11
    pwd
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭pwd


    Puppies lick adult dogs in the same pack to beg for food. Domesticated dogs maintain this behaviour as adults because they are kept in a pupplike mentality. [According to Almost Like a Whale, a book on evolution]. Adult dogs also lick each other's ears to groom and get rid of parasites.

    Cats lick to groom/clean themselves and other animals.


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    #12
    Einstein
    Registered Users Posts: 2,630 ✭✭✭Einstein


    pwd wrote: »
    Is it for salt in their sweat? Or is it a social thing?
    where the hell do you hang out? :P


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    #13
    Wisco
    Registered Users Posts: 637 ✭✭✭Wisco


    Most cows are really curious so part of it is their way of investigating things. It's also why the end up eating stuff they shouldn't (for example, metal) which can cause them serious trouble. Calves often do it because they're looking for food if they've been bottle reared.


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    #14
    star.chaser
    Closed Accounts Posts: 740 ✭✭✭star.chaser


    cause they can


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    #15
    rainbowtrout
    Registered Users Posts: 15,381 ✭✭✭✭rainbowtrout


    Maybe cows (and other animals) think 'Why do animals rub us? :)


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    #16
    morganafay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,534 ✭✭✭morganafay


    Maybe cows wonder why they get milked? That must be really confusing.


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    #17
    imbroglio
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭imbroglio


    Maybe it's to do with their suckling instinct?


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