Meet Veronika, the tool-using cow
Veronika uses sticks to scratch herself, suggesting scientists have underestimated cow cognition
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/01/meet-veronika-the-tool-using-cow/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
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15
@arstechnica don't give her a keyboard or devs will fear their job to be taken by her. We devs are fragile these days 😆
#govegan btw.
so, does it make you smarter to drink milk from Veronika ?
@arstechnica
She's a pet, and quietly demonstrating a level of intelligence previously unrecognised, yet is called "livestock". Tell me the article was written by a carnist without mentioning meat consumption in the article.
@arstechnica @Dio9sys @left_adjoint smdh when they find out what we've always known
RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/115922605916049706
@arstechnica what surprises me is that this hasn't been picked up before.
If I go search for 'cow using stick' I can find at least two other videos other videos
one on reddit from 2024: https://www.reddit.com/r/Cows/comments/1bj08z4/he_likes_to_itch_his_tummy_with_sticks/
and one from 6 years ago of a bull using a stick to scratch 'an itch' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfY4rpwAQfQ
bit blunt to say perhaps, but the biggest discovery to me is that humans are capable of recognizing and acknowledging intelligence in anything other than themselves 😅
@arstechnica She would be a better US president than Trump.
@arstechnica
@studioplantaardig
Moest meteen aan jullie afleveringen over gedrag van dieren denken. Over koeien hebben jullie natuurlijk ook al gepraat.
@arstechnica whoever wrote this hasn't seen cow scratchers
@arstechnica Having grown up with animals and many cows… I can attest to this failings in human cognition 😹
