Here’s a cold, hard, rugged truth for you all; we have become far too comfortable as the so-called dominant species of Earth. It’s one thing if we’re able to have a less intense relationship to physiological survival than the rest of the planet’s inhabitants, but it’s quite another when we start forgetting that those other inhabitants still live here. Namely, they live outside your door.
So by golly, if a herd of cows decides that they want to mosey on down to the lake for a sip of water in the middle of the afternoon, you’d best believe that they’re well within their right to do so, and we’d best swallow our pride and accept the label of “party crashers” in that scenario. This is especially true if our entrance is as dramatic as this pair of tubers on TikTok.
Shared by @dailyvidss.4u, the 16-second clip follows a tubing duo being dragged along by a speedboat pilot with questionable credentials. Their soggy adrenaline rush comes to a screeching halt when their tube swings wide and they crash directly into a group of cattle who were minding their own business by the shore. Screams of disbelief echoed out of the tubers, while the cows fled the scene in a disoriented haze; the poor things will probably be traumatized at the sight of water now. Good job, gang.
The majority of commenters proved to be on the right side of history, with ire for the boat driver showing up in equal measure with concern for the cows. The video’s caption suggests that the cameraperson was baffled by the presence of all the bovines, but in reality, it makes far more sense for the cows to be there than the tubers. According to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, a nonlactating cow or bull needs one gallon of water per 100 pounds of body weight per day; that’s a lot of water, and the lake can readily provide that water. Humans, meanwhile, need exactly zero minutes of tubing per day to stay healthy, so who’s really the odd one out here?
Let this be a sign that we human beings need to relearn how to be humbler for the sake of all the flora we share this planet with. The waters are not shark-infested; they live there. Coyotes are not invading our towns; we built them on top of their homes. And finally, cows are not interrupting your tubing trip; your tubing trip is interrupting the cows.
