Veronika the cow might surprise many with her innovative approach to self-care.
This Swiss brown cow has ingeniously figured out a way to relieve those itchy spots by employing a broom as her personal scratching tool.
Biologist Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaro notes that Veronika stands out as the first cow known to utilize tools in such a manner.
When seeking a more intense scratch, Veronika opts for the broom’s firm-bristled end.
For gentler relief, she cleverly switches to the broom’s rounded tip.
“A similar behavior has been observed in chimpanzees, who occasionally use both ends of a stick to fish for termites,” Osuna-Mascaro shared with the BBC. “However, such instances are exceedingly rare.”
Tool use among primates has been well-documented and studied, but despite how close they are to humans, cows have not been given the same treatment.
“It is important to know that cows have the capacity to innovate in their use of tools and to use them flexibly, because this sends a strong message about how biased we have been regarding cows’ intelligence and their capabilities,” Osuna-Mascaro said.
Veronika’s life isn’t that of the typical cow.
Osuna-Mascaro said he wanted to hear from other people who have witnessed cows using tools.
“The key element is this: grabbing a free-moving object and using it as an extension of oneself in order to reach targets that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to reach,” he said.
So scratching their heads on a fencepost doesn’t count.
The notion that only humans could use tools was debunked in 1960.
Since then, tool use has been observed in certain types of fish, birds, reptiles and octopuses.
Elephants, sea otters, mongooses, honey badgers and other mammals have also been spotted using tools.
Osuna-Mascaro’s findings have been published in the latest issue of Current Biology.
