Cow tipping

It is unclear that cow tipping is commonly practiced anywhere, or that anyone has successfully tipped a cow. Several people claim that cow tipping is nothing but an urban legend. There are a number of problems with the traditional account of cow tipping. First, cows don't sleep standing, despite widespread belief to the contrary. (The confusion here may stem from the fact that horses do sleep standing up; see horse for an explanation of the anatomy involved.) Second, a grown cow weighs on the order of 700 kg (1,500 pounds) and is unlikely to be budged by even the most determined human or small group, although it may be annoyed by their efforts.

Some variants of the cow tipping story attempt to get around these objections. Some claim, for example, that although cows lie down to dream, they can still doze while standing. Typically, these alternate stories can also be refuted.

Cow tipping has been compared to a snipe hunt; both may be fabrications that rural teens use to lure unsuspecting city kids into pastures at night in order ridicule them.

The cow tipping arguably became real for many moviegoers who saw the film Heathers, in which a couple of jocks go cow tipping. Regardless of the number of attempted cow tippings prior the the film, it may have inspired some new attempts.

Some farm communities have passed laws against attempting cow tipping, as the activity is likely to result in injury to the prospective tippers and/or to the cow.

External links

The following web sites argue debunk the notion that cow tipping is an actually practiced activity:

• http://www.skeptic.com/jr5-09
• http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/cowtipping.htm