Cow 1, Dogs 0

October 8, 2005 11:52 AM

Cow beats the crap out of dogs. Cows are mean.
posted by bigmusic (65 comments total)

I really wish I hadn't seen that.
posted by theperfectcrime at 11:58 AM on October 8, 2005

Can anybody read the text? I'd like to know how this was photographed.
posted by soiled cowboy at 12:00 PM on October 8, 2005

1) I think that's a bull.
2) It looks like the dogs started it.
3) Will someone please translate the Russian captions at least?
posted by davy at 12:00 PM on October 8, 2005

Yes! That made my day, but I hope the doggie wasn't too physically hurt.
posted by doctorschlock at 12:00 PM on October 8, 2005

Babelfish doesn't make a whole lot of sense out of it. It seems that it was taken after the hurricane though.
posted by bigmusic at 12:01 PM on October 8, 2005

Holy cow!
posted by wsg at 12:01 PM on October 8, 2005

It translates as something like, the dogs were shot by passing national guard troops in Alabama.
posted by 517 at 12:02 PM on October 8, 2005

That cow is "dog-gone" crazy!
posted by wigu at 12:03 PM on October 8, 2005

Warren Ellis posted this last week, and one of his minions made an amusing animated GIF from it.
posted by S.C. at 12:03 PM on October 8, 2005

i saw this back on 09.18. Seems to provide some context.
posted by quin at 12:04 PM on October 8, 2005

We have a bit of a size imbalance here.
posted by caddis at 12:05 PM on October 8, 2005

I read somewhere (somethingawful.com i think) that the cow/bull didn't kill the dogs, but passing troopers shot them.
posted by h00dini at 12:05 PM on October 8, 2005

OOOOPS! I didn't scroll down to see all the pics. The dogs a
goner.
posted by doctorschlock at 12:07 PM on October 8, 2005

From quin's link:
"It was too dangerous for an unarmed witness to intervene but The Sunday Telegraph flagged down a National Guard truck. Seeing what was happening, a soldier shot the bitch in the head.

The dog paused before resuming the attack. It took two bullets to stop it dead."
posted by soiled cowboy at 12:08 PM on October 8, 2005

The animated GIF is brilliant. Thanks.
posted by homunculus at 12:12 PM on October 8, 2005

An attempt at a rough translation of the captions:

Sept. 15, Phoenix Alabama, two pitbulls, left without owners, seek food independently.

Their victim was a bull, who had apparently gotten lost, and separated from his herd.

the dogs were not dissuaded by the presence of a photographer, who was traveling with a national guard patrol, which was in charge of that area in the aftermath of "Katrina."

The story's end: the dogs got shot.

posted by kickingtheground at 12:16 PM on October 8, 2005

Hey I made you guys an icon


posted by wigu at 12:16 PM on October 8, 2005

Apparently that cow has been reading Dr. James Dobson.
posted by fandango_matt at 12:21 PM on October 8, 2005

The next time some pasty vegetarian starts to give me shit about my steak, I'll just show 'em these pictures. I'm not part of the problem, I'm part of the solution.
posted by keswick at 12:29 PM on October 8, 2005

"Don't kid yourself Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about!"
posted by keswick at 12:30 PM on October 8, 2005

From quin's link: The terrifying assault highlighted the US military's concern that pit bulls would form packs and could attack or even kill soldiers.

Isn't there a movie set in a post-apocalyptic world where packs of dogs go to war with packs of cockroahes?

...

Good.
posted by panoptican at 1:05 PM on October 8, 2005

I never quite understood what the whole fuss was about "Mad Cow" disease. Now I understand.....!
posted by Todd Lokken at 1:06 PM on October 8, 2005

Mule beats crap out of mountain lion.
posted by 327.ca at 1:18 PM on October 8, 2005

Wow, now that's good context.
I got gibberish trying to translate this before, and only had the first picture available.
Incredible story. Reminded me how, when I went to the no-kill shelter outside NYC, there were nearly 60% pit bulls there, none of which were suitable for homes with children.
they're like the hummer of the dog world.
posted by Busithoth at 1:23 PM on October 8, 2005

on preview, 327.ca, that link rocks!
the dogs' faces in the last two pics are hilarious, especially since the mountain lion was gunning for them.
posted by Busithoth at 1:26 PM on October 8, 2005

Unfortunately (perhaps fortunately for the mule,) according to a link in the comments of 327.ca's link, the lion was already dead.
posted by Coventry at 1:41 PM on October 8, 2005

As a vegetarian I support the full eradication of cattle. You never know when they'll turn on you next, so why do you meaties keep breeding them?
posted by TheSpook at 1:56 PM on October 8, 2005

I think the stream of poo shooting out of the bull's butt in the second photo pretty much sums up the situation at that moment.
posted by schoolgirl report at 2:16 PM on October 8, 2005

Udder pigs.
posted by painquale at 2:34 PM on October 8, 2005

You don't need to know Russian to realize that it's a bull. The pair of hanging testicles gives it away right there.
posted by enamon at 2:40 PM on October 8, 2005

city slickers...
posted by j-urb at 2:48 PM on October 8, 2005

I think the stream of poo shooting out of the bull's butt in the second photo pretty much sums up the situation at that moment.

heh, what brought that on
posted by nervousfritz at 3:34 PM on October 8, 2005

MOOF!
posted by hal9k at 3:36 PM on October 8, 2005

Having been woken by the stupid mutts next door I say "Go bull!"
posted by pompomtom at 3:58 PM on October 8, 2005

I really think the dogs would have succeded had there not been intervention. Wow. Even while flying through the air, that dog looked tough.
posted by snsranch at 4:09 PM on October 8, 2005

damn. Remind me not to let my sweet pit bull go hungry. Also, the second pic was caught exactly as the bull was beginning to squirt something from its ass. Ewww.
posted by pmbuko at 4:22 PM on October 8, 2005

mule beats the crap out of a dead mountain lion
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 5:06 PM on October 8, 2005

mule beats the crap out of a dead mountain lion

Heh. Seeing a mule toss a mountain lion around like a bag of trash is pretty impressive -- dead or alive. (The mountain lion, I mean. Though a dead mule tossing around a dead mountain lion would be even more impressive.)
posted by 327.ca at 5:15 PM on October 8, 2005

when i first saw these pictures, and was chuckling away, before i read the translation, i was thinking: "sometimes you get the bull, and sometimes you get the horns"...
posted by TrinityB5 at 5:32 PM on October 8, 2005

Jinxed Tryptophan-5ht buys ice-cold soda pop for Coventry.
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:57 PM on October 8, 2005

On slide 7, MNSBC interviews the photographer. Guess the dogs prefer beef over photojournalist.
posted by mrhappysad at 7:45 PM on October 8, 2005

Python vs Alligator
posted by stbalbach at 8:41 PM on October 8, 2005

"I hope the doggie wasn't too physically hurt."

He's deader than a dead dog and appears to be flatter than a pancake.

I have no idea if his psyche managed to remain intact before he went to meet his maker, though.
posted by bat at 10:31 PM on October 8, 2005

Not the smartest dogs I've seen. Biting the bull's lips?

What kind of creature looks at a rippling heap of muscles 15 times its size and goes "Ya know, Rex, I think I'm a' gonna go over and chew on his lips."

Darwin 1, dogs 0.
posted by spazzm at 6:14 AM on October 9, 2005

Reminds me of a fox terrier I knew. Cockiest little maniac you ever saw. Anyways, once I walked him in a meadow where some horses were grazing. The stupid mutt set out after them of course, running circles around the decicdedly un-impressed equines. Suddenly, before I could collar the mutt, one of the horses apparently decided it had enough and, with astonishing precision and speed, reached down and snagged the dog with its mouth, lifting him clear of the ground. The terrier, finding himself suspended in a set of jaws larger than himself, was too surprised to bark or even struggle, so for one strange moment the horse just held him there, in the meadow while the birds were chirping and the leaves were rustling.
...
Then the horse gently set him down again.
That dog never bothered another horse.

To this day, however, I still imagine the horse having a sort of look on its face, a look as if it wanted to say..."yuck".
posted by spazzm at 6:28 AM on October 9, 2005

What kind of creature looks at a rippling heap of muscles 15 times its size and goes "Ya know, Rex, I think I'm a' gonna go over and chew on his lips."

It's actually a very common strategy for predators which take on much larger prey. Not only are there a lot of nerves and blood vessels in the muzzle (bleeding weakens the animal), but they're normally trying to get ahold of the nose itself to cut down on the prey animal's breathing and weigh down its head to tire it out faster (not to mention the fact that weighing down the head makes it harder for the animal to see where the next attack is coming from).
posted by biscotti at 6:37 AM on October 9, 2005

It's actually a very common strategy for predators which take on much larger prey.

I'm no expert, but if I were attacking something 15 times my size (not that I would, of course) I'd go for the neck or throat, which is rich in veins and important nerves. The attacked animal can't fling you as easily trough the air, like shown in the pictures, if you're holding on to the neck.

Again, I'm no expert, but wikipedia seems to agree: "When attacking, wolves generally target the neck, throat, and sides of an animal. Wolf packs mostly kill and feast on the weak, elderly, and sick animals, since large, healthy mammals can and will fight against wolves possibly injuring and even killing a great many wolves."

To sum it up:
These dogs were amateurs who got p0wn3d.
posted by spazzm at 7:08 AM on October 9, 2005

I'm hazy on this, but ISTR that back when bulldogs were actually used for bull-baiting, their preferred method of attack involved grabbing the bull at the muzzle and hanging on.
posted by alumshubby at 7:09 AM on October 9, 2005

alumshubby: True, but there's two important differences:
1) During bull-baiting, the bull is tethered.
2) The objective in bull baiting is different from the objective in a hunt for food. During bull-baiting the objective is to provide entertainment to blood-thirsty spectators who don't care who gets mauled as long as someone gets mauled. It's cheaper to replace a dog than a bull. During a hunt the empasis is (from the predators' point of view) on not getting seriously hurt and bringing the prey down as fast as possible.

Different tactics for different objectives.
posted by spazzm at 7:44 AM on October 9, 2005

They do bite the throat, of course, but that doesn't mean they don't often bite the muzzle. See here ("Large prey are killed with a bite to the throat or muzzle..."), here ("...one wolf will attempt to bite onto the muzzle of a moose while the rest of the pack attacks the animal's hindquarters and the sides of its body..."), etc. My point is that it's not stupid behaviour, it's natural hunting behaviour seen in many predators (and especially likely in a breed which has bull-baiting breeds in it, like a Pit Bull, since regardless of the purpose or effectiveness (even though it is clearly effective, since wild predators do it), the dog is bred to have this inclination).
posted by biscotti at 7:54 AM on October 9, 2005

biscotti, the full sentence reads " Large prey are killed with a bite to the throat or muzzle, locked in place to suffocate it." I don't think any of those dogs were in any position to suffocate the bull. Also, there's a difference between muzzle (which your first link discusses) and lips (which is the object of contention in this little dog-and-bull drama.)
The second link states: ". Sometimes, one wolf will attempt to bite onto the muzzle of a moose while the rest of the pack attacks the animal's hindquarters and the sides of its body."

There's a difference between mooses (meese?) and oxen. There's a difference between lips and muzzles.

Just sayin', that's all.

I think the ultimate test for any tactic is: Does it work?
And in this case, the answer is obviously 'no'.

My previous assessment of the canines' intelligence does therefore not, in my humble opinion, require re-evaluation.

Goodnight, all.
posted by spazzm at 8:05 AM on October 9, 2005

Side note: biscotti, your first link discusses large cats, obviously felines and canines have different hunting tecniques, necessitated by their different physical and social structures.

But now I'm really going to bed.
posted by spazzm at 8:08 AM on October 9, 2005

I was discussing these pictures with a friend a couple days ago and we thought that the shadows don't seem to add up.

Also, that dog in midair kind of looks like it was just standing there in another picture and then photoshopped in.

However, the news story makes me think they might be real. Then again, the news is usually bullshit. Who knows.
posted by Jupiter Jones at 10:16 AM on October 9, 2005

...Biting the bull's lips?

...My previous assessment of the canines' intelligence does therefore not, in my humble opinion, require re-evaluation.

Your assessment would still be wrong. This is how dogs are bred to bring down large livestock. My uncle used much smaller Blue Healers on a ranch to occasionally help bring down unruly sheep and cattle much the same way - though usually in a corral and roped so the cow can't thrash around so much and never with a Bull as shown in those pictures. Bulls can fight ferociously. AFAIK the sick sport of Bull baiting evolved from the legitimate need to have dogs bring down livestock into a pen for branding, shearing etc.
posted by tkchrist at 1:45 PM on October 9, 2005

"Heelers." Damn it.
posted by tkchrist at 1:45 PM on October 9, 2005

What I really wonder is...

how could anyone mistake that unmistakeably well-equipped bull with a cow? You know, people, those aren't udders...
posted by Skeptic at 4:02 PM on October 9, 2005

Anyone see that Discovery Channel Wild Kingdom today about dolphin infaticide and also killing porpoi in Scotland? The dogs flying through the air reminds me of that.
posted by evilelvis at 5:12 PM on October 9, 2005

At least the bull wasn't armed.
posted by Vidiot at 7:00 PM on October 9, 2005

It is I - the one whose timezone ensures I end all threads - but, with interesting and relevant footnotes:


posted by strawberryviagra at 7:21 PM on October 9, 2005

And there is more:








posted by strawberryviagra at 7:26 PM on October 9, 2005

Awesome!
posted by caddis at 7:32 PM on October 9, 2005

All you guys arguing about whether or not attacking the lips was a valid technique - the article linked by Quin points out that the bull was actually tiring before the national guardsmen shot the dogs. So who knows? Maybe they would have even won?
posted by antifuse at 1:25 AM on October 10, 2005

I hate dogs. So I like this. Thanks!
posted by Decani at 10:49 AM on October 10, 2005

I think the "vs" angle for the croc and shark is a bit misleading. More like a croc eats a gasping beached shark. Anyone who's ever seen a beached whale could say they "got into a fight with (nay, won a fight with) a whale": just run up and take a swing!

Also, I agree the dogs would've won had the busy-body guardsmen not sided with the more expensive animal property.
posted by dgaicun at 2:10 PM on October 10, 2005

Whoa!
posted by OmieWise at 5:56 AM on October 11, 2005