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Cow chases bear from her apple tree near Boulder
Courtesy of Penny Cox
Courtesy of Penny Cox
Courtesy of Penny Cox
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When Jack McDonald heard some strange animal noises coming from the yard, he expected to find a pair of feuding cats or an ornery squirrel getting into trouble under the apple tree, next to an inflatable swimming pool.
Instead, the 46-year-old Hygiene man found his landlord’s pet cow face-to-face — or nose-to-nose — with a 2-year-old black bear.
“It’s not every day you get to see a bear and a cow kiss,” he said.
McDonald said he spotted the rendezvous about 5 p.m. Sunday and called the Colorado Division of Wildlife to notify officers of the close encounter.
“The cow was curious about the bear, and the bear was curious about the cow,” McDonald said. “The bear leaned over the fence, and they touched noses.”
Neither the black Angus heifer — a female named “Apple” for her love of the fruit — nor the bear was aggressive, McDonald said. But, he said, “Apple the wonder cow” chased the bear off the land after a few minutes.
“Apple is protective of her apple tree,” he said. “I don’t think she wanted that bear eating any more of her apples.”
Officers from the Division of Wildlife and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, but they never found the bear after Apple chased it off.
Nancy Dayton, Apple’s owner and McDonald’s landlord, said she doesn’t know if her cow was shielding her fruit or just trying to make a new friend.
Still, after the bear made its way down from the tree where it was balancing on a fence, Apple chased him off the land, mooing and bawling at him the whole way, Dayton said.
“She might have thought, ‘Those are my apples, and I’m not sharing. You get out of here,’” she said.
Dayton bought Apple last year from her neighbor after she found out the cow was scheduled to “become hamburger.”
“So she’s kind of a pet now,” Dayton said.
Apple always has enjoyed the fruit tree in the yard, she said, and this year has been an especially good season.
“She’s funny because she’ll be on the other side of the pasture and I’ll yell, ‘Apple,’ and she charges across the field like a stampede,” Dayton said. “It’s comical.”
Another of Dayton’s tenants, Penny Cox, 64, said Apple acts more like a dog than a bovine.
“She’s not really a cow, and she might have wanted to play,” said Cox, who snapped pictures of the odd couple exchanging glances Sunday. “I kept thinking, ‘Wow, this is a bear and a cow.’”
Posted by bobmobber on August 18, 2008 at 1:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Things like this happen in ... wait, this is actually pretty amusing.
Posted by BoulderMath on August 18, 2008 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This story is too cute! It's nice to read stories that put a smile on your face. :)
Posted by lwbldr on August 18, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Bet the bear goes cow tipping tonight...
Posted by t.pull on August 18, 2008 at 1:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
a bear can't get a break in this town...
Posted by independent on August 18, 2008 at 1:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
must be a slow day in the news department...
Posted by noboresident on August 18, 2008 at 2:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Typical liberal bear, looking for free handouts at the expense of someone else. That cow is a true conservative patriot who's willing to stand up for what's right.
Give "Apple" and conceal/carry permit and let her clean up the Pearl St. Mall!
Posted by intheknow on August 18, 2008 at 4 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The cow got mad at the bear and then they touched noses. Hmmm... I think this bear could be Patient Zero for the ursine variation of Mad Cow Disease.
Posted by Robert_Paul_Smoke on August 18, 2008 at 5:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
if people could only learn to be more like
cows and bears
Posted by EvanFromHeaven on August 18, 2008 at 8:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
God's going to banish them both from the Garden of Eden! Bad bear! Bad cow!
Posted by BoulderMath on August 18, 2008 at 8:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Great pictures! Thanks Penny!
Posted by lynn_segal_aka_lds on August 19, 2008 at 6:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Is there a picture of the kiss?
I don't believe Old McDonald would have called to report if he'd known what DOW had in mind for the baby bear.
Compost and the bear "threat" is on the agenda at CC tonight.
Posted by ben on August 19, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Hmmm,maybe the *Cow-Bear* Report:)"
Hilarious.... especially since Colbert loves to report on Bears...
Posted by MikeEllis on August 19, 2008 at 1:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey I'm a cow, I'm curious
Hey watch me now, I'm furious
Hey I'm a cow, I'm full of hate
Hey watch me now, I'm on your plate
Posted by msw222 on August 22, 2008 at 5:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great story and pics. Maybe the Daily can focus more on positive news!
Posted by Twinma on August 24, 2008 at 1:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Love this story!!! :-))
Posted by EvanFromHeaven on August 29, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yesterday, in Gregory Canyon, I stopped to cool off under an old apple tree -and spooked a bear. It hid in the cry creek bottom until I started toward it with my camera, then went up the hill to wait until after I ate an apple and left.
People are scarier to bears than cows.
We're all banished from the garden of eden...
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