Can Cows Swim?
Today, in “Other Questions You Never Knew You Needed To Ask”, we’re exploring this strange inquiry: can cows swim?
Have you ever thought about it? The idea conjures up images of large, block-like creatures somehow using their peg legs to keep their massive bodies buoyant in the water. Seems kind of impossible, you’d think.
In fact, the image of a cow swimming coincides with the idea of said blockish cow sinking slowly to the bottom of a body of water with a slow, garbled “moooo” blowing bubbles out of its mouth on the way down.
Morbid? Maybe. I’m just being honest. They don’t look like the best swimmers in the animal kingdom. However, while some cows do, sadly, drown while swimming, most of them don’t.
Can cows swim? Yes. Yes they can.
Mooooove over Michale Phelps: How Far Can Cows Swim?
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Cows, as it turns out, are actually good swimmers. They take to the water naturally and have little trouble swimming from one side of a pond or stream to the other.
While some cows can cover much larger distances, others prefer to go on shorter swims to reach the other side of a grazing opportunity. However, since cows can swim even easier than they walk, many are capable of going several miles without getting tired.
See, it would seem that their massive bodies would make them heavier in the water. However, the opposite is true. Their bodies give them buoyancy, and their four strong legs work like paddles under the water to help them gain speed.
There was even a case of cows swimming miles to safe land after being pushed out to sea by Hurricane Dorian. Locals found them happily chomping on grass after swimming at least two miles across the Core Sound from Cedar Island.
Fortunately for them, they made it to land instead of drifting out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Can Cows Swim In Deep Water?
If they had been pushed out to sea, would the surviving cows of Hurricane Dorian have lasted very long? Probably not.
However, that’s not because of the depth of the water. It seems that deep water is fine for most cows, but they just don’t hang out there very long. Can cows swim underwater? No, no they cannot.
Related: Perhaps après swim, these cows may fancy a blow-dry. Err, wait. Did you know blow-drying cows is a thing?
