Aaahhh! Spring is lovely, isn’t it!
(Picture from arla.se)
Within the next two or three weeks, thousands and thousands of spectators will attend an age-old event which just recently started to become a public spectacle: the spring release of the cattle.
We’re on our way to meet our admirers!
Picture from kil.se
Many of today’s children in the cities have never seen a cow and believe that milk in square cartons is produced in a factory; i.e. believing that a dairy is some kind of brewery.
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This was the reason for the big Swedish dairy corporations, in cooperation with farmers all over the country, to launch the spring release of cattle as a public event some ten years ago: kids should have a chance to see a cow close.
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Today, numerous events of ”Kosläpp” (=cow release) are announced all over the country, to take place in the early weekends of May. Most often, the event takes place on a Saturday morning when people are free from their jobs and can bring their children.
The events usually attract about 1,000 visitors at each farm with kilometer-long lines of parked cars on the dirt roads, as seen in the picture to the right.
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Now I can hear you asking ”how can such a non-event be so popular?”
Yippee! I’m loose! And the grass is green!
Picture from the wilhsson.se farmer’s site
Well… if you’ve never seen a cow with a ten-gallon udder jump three feet in the air, prancing and galloping like a race horse, this will be your chance to have the experience.
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Multiply this image by 100, and you have a field full of cattle jumping, dashing, butting each other, rubbing their heads in the grass… it’s a hilarious spectacle.
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No wonder really. If you’ve spent the last seven months chewing dry hay and vapid ensilage confined to a cowhouse without windows, it must be an overwhelming experience to come out in the sun, seeing fresh green and juicy grass!
Life’s a feast!
Cows on the loose
Picture from theworld.spotlife.se
And it begins right now! Mooooh!
Cows in space
Picture from theworld.spotlife.se