[Taxacom] A Fundamental Question for All of You Taxacomers

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi Robin,
      I think that most mammals will tend to put their backs to a really
cold wind for two reasons: (1) doing so would help protect their vital,
energy-demanding brains from cold damage; and (2) those which have to
worry about predators are best served by monitoring for such predators
downwind with their eyes and upwind by smell.  Horses exhibit this
"normal" behavior.       
      So the question is why cows or other ruminants (such as deer?)
would do the exact opposite, risking cold damage (hypothermia) to their
brains and being less able to detect predators behind them by either
sight or smell.  Maybe cattle (domestic cows in particular) use their
brains so little that brain damage isn't as big a deal for them as it is
for other mammals.  As long as they have enough brains left to walk,
find food, and chew, they can continue to do what they are bred to do
(eat and grow).  However, this would not explain why sheep tend to act
normally and turn their backs towards the cold wind.  But perhaps cows
are just a little more domesticated, better protected by their human
owners than sheep, and further removed from the normal responses of
their wild ancestors.  I would be interested to know how animals like
wildebeests (or other wild bovids) react to windy, inclement, weather.
Do they react normally or more like cows?
            ----------Ken Kinman