Cow-tipping myth hasn't got a leg to stand on

Times on Line (Britain) ^ | November 05, 2005 | Jack Malvern

[OSHA]

IT IS the kind of story you hear from a friend of a friend — how, after a long night in a rural hostelry and at a loss for entertainment in the countryside, they head out into a nearby field.

There, according to the second-hand accounts, they sneak up on an unsuspecting cow and turn the poor animal hoof over udder.

< snip >

Ms Boechler, now a trainee forensics analyst for the Royal Canadian Mounted Corps, concluded in her initial report that a cow standing with its legs straight would require five people to exert the required force to bowl it over.

< snip >

Another problem is that cows, unlike horses, do not sleep on their feet — they doze. Ms Boechler said that cows are easily disturbed. “I have personally heard of people trying but failing because they are either using too few people or being too loud.

“Most of these ‘athletes’ are intoxicated.”

[Old Flat Toad]

Next Darwin award could go to two big flat guys.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Guns up!

[mad_as_he$$]

naa it's all about leverage. Go to the rodeo they do it all the time.

[ElkGroveDan]

Ms Boechler, .... concluded ... that a cow standing with its legs straight would require five people to exert the required force to bowl it over.

Except for the part about them being light sleepers, nothing in here disproves this. Thinking back to my youthful days, I probably would have instinctively thought to bring four or five guys for a stunt like this.

[ElkGroveDan]

The best guitar player in the world probably hangs out in some Memphis dive, but he doesn't have the breaks and thereby has yet to become famous. Being only one jellybean away from the big time, he ends up winding clocks for a living while the tuning pegs corrode.