Are Cows Wild?

When I was at the local organic/health food grocery store yesterday, I happened to pass a display of canned tuna fish and other products. One in particular caught my eye. In big bold letters on the front of this can there were the words "Wild Sardines". I thought about that for a moment and it just didn't sound right. I could understand if it said "wild caught" since that seems to be the phrase of the hour these days. Everything worth having is "wild caught". There's wild caught salmon, tuna, tilapia, shrimp, and maybe sardines, although, that's not what the can said. It said "Wild Sardines".

Let's think about this. How many domesticated sardines have you heard about. I don't live on any coast, and I don't live near a fish market. But, I am pretty sure that ALL sardines are wild. I've heard of farmed catfish, farmed salmon, and even farmed pearls. You know, the oyster beds where they intentionally implant a foreign object into the oyster so it will make a pearl. There may even be farmed shrimp, but I'm not sure about that one. But, I have never heard of farmed sardines.

There are other things raised on farms, such as your basic agricultural products - corn, wheat, rice, oats, soybeans, etc. Then there are animals that are raised on farms or ranches, such as pigs, chickens, turkeys, and cows. Well, I guess the proper term would be cattle, since cows are just the female variety of cattle. There are cattle raised for beef and cattle raised for dairy products. Those guys get to live a good long life as long as they are producing milk. I suppose, in that case, it really pays to be "the female variety". I did see a Holstein bull once at the state fair. It was actually kind of weird looking. I was used to seeing Holstein cows, but, for some reason, the bull just looked completely out of place. Here was the very large animal that was generally shaped like a dairy cow, but it had things hanging in all the wrong places. And, there is just something strange about seeing a bull that is sort of sweet and pretty in the face. I was more used to seeing the bulls in rodeos that were definitely not sweet and pretty looking in the face.

So, that brings me to another question. Where are all the wild cattle? Doesn't that phrase seem odd? Wild cattle? What is that? I mean, all the cattle I know about are domesticated. I've seen many herds of Angus or Hereford cattle in Texas. Shoot, I've even seen herds of Longhorn cattle. They are all grazing peacefully in some pasture surrounded by various kinds of fences. But, technically, they are not tame like the pet dog or cat. They don't come when called, they generally run if you try to approach them (unless you have food), and they don't do tricks.

So, where are all the wild cattle? Does such a thing even exist? I don't know, but enquiring minds want to know so I started doing my research. As far as I can tell, there are very few really wild members of the bovine family. Yes, all cattle are in the bovine family. There are water buffalo and cape buffalo in Africa and India. In India, most of these have been domesticated and so they don't roam around in the wild environs. (Like that word?) The American Bison, commonly known around these parts as a buffalo, used to roam wild, but no more. Go talk to Buffalo Bill to find out what happened. There are small herds of American Bison that are kept on various preserves. In fact, there is a small herd right around the corner from me. There are yaks, but, again, most of these have been domesticated and are kept in controlled herds. Then we come to the musk ox. Guess what? It's not really considered part of the cattle family but "more closely resembles sheep or goats", and they, too, have been domesticated and are kept by the local people for their use.

Besides, what exactly is an ox? I thought it was a cattle species, but, it's not. An ox is not any particular breed of cattle. It is a castrated bull of any of the bovine species that is specifically used for draft purposes. That would be pulling carts and wagons and not pouring beer.

So, I have learned that an ox is not really an ox, a musk ox is not really a cow, and a bison is not really a buffalo. What I have not learned is if there really are any herds of completely wild cattle, such as Angus, Brahman, Charolais, Holstein, Guernsey, or Jersey just romping out in the wild blue yonder and mooing to their little heart's content. I'm thinking not so much. If you want to see a cow in its native habitat, you should make a trip to the nearest dairy farm or beef cattle ranch. Or, you could go to the Fort Worth Stockyards and watch the daily waddle of the Longhorn Cattle Drive. Yes, waddle. They are overfed and very fat, but, boy do they have some horns. Only the steers have long horns. The bulls use all their energy to grow other parts of their body. I learned that while sitting next to a Longhorn Cattle rancher at the local Longhorn Cattle Show. I'm sure that's not something that would normally come up in conversation at your local PTA, but it seemed like a good question to ask at this particular event.

So, I will accept the fact that there are probably few, if any, really wild cattle other than those pesky water buffaloes in Africa. And, really, I guess that is no stranger than wondering if there are any wild chickens. Now, that would be a sight to see.