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by ibgames

EARTHDATE: January 18, 2015

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REAL LIFE NEWS: HOW TO SPEAK COW

by Hazed

Scientists have learned how to understand cows. By analysing how mother cows communicate with their calves they have translated what the various “moo” sounds actually mean.

They identified two sounds that cows make to their calves, which are distinctly different depending on whether they are close to each other or separated, and a sound calves make when they want to start suckling milk. You can listen to the different cow calls at the source link below.

The researchers from the University of Nottingham and Queen Mary University of London studied cows on a farm over a period of ten months. They digitally recorded the sounds the cows made and then spent a year analysing them with computers.

As well as the different types of moos for different circumstances, they also discovered that cows make their own unique sounds – just as human voices are different from each other.

The research has implications for animal welfare, because this method of analysing cow sounds could identify sounds cows make when they are distressed.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-30484034

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