Loving Mother Cow Shows Protective Nature for Her Newborn Calf

Flo is a wonderful and good-natured cow who lives on a beautiful farm in Millbrook, Ontario. Referred to as an ethical farm, the animals here roam freely on lush, green pastures with rolling hills and ponds for drinking water. It is surrounded by forest and corn fields and the air is fresh and clean. The farmers live here as well, and their house sits on a hill overlooking the pastures and the cows as they graze happily. The farmers do not raise veal and the calves are allowed to nurse and stay with their mothers as nature intended.

Flo has just given birth to a beautiful and healthy young male calf. He was born on this sunny and warm spring day at the side of the meadow. Unfortunately, her little calf slid under the electric fence in the moments after he was born and he was stuck on the other side, unable to get to his mother to nurse. This same fence that is designed to keep out predators and to keep the cows from wandering out onto the road was now keeping a mother and her baby apart.

A passing motorist stopped at the side of the meadow to get a few pictures and video of the other cows in the pond, and he noticed Flo's distress. He was eventually able to understand that she was upset about her calf outside the fence and he walked over to the long grass where it lay. He managed to push the calf back under the fence to join his mother, but they both received a few mild shocks in the effort. For this reason, the calf was named "Sparky".

As Sparky and Flo wandered through the meadow, he nursed happily and Flo grazed contentedly. Flo had demonstrated an impressive emotional attachment to the calf, evident by her distress at being apart, as well as an impressive amount of intellect in being able to show the motorist that she needed help. Now, after being reunited, Flo also shows a protective and motherly side of her nature as she clearly demonstrates that she is willing to intervene firmly when other cows come too close to her new baby.

Cows are far smarter than we realize, and their capacity for emotion is more than we give them credit for. Flo clearly shows us that a mother's love is not just for humans, it's something that cows, and other animals, feel too.