This past week has been the hottest of the year with highs up to 104 Fahrenheit in the shade. The animals and people at Medicine Spirit Ranch are wilting and making their best efforts to avoid becoming overheated.
For the first time I have have spotted one heifer spending most of her time during the day standing up to her belly in a shady spring-fed creek. She has appeared happy with her cool aqueous location and pays me little attention when I approach her.
Who says all cows are dumb? I admire this mama cow for figuring this cooling strategy out. I too have been taking dips in our small backyard pool but never thought a cow would use the same strategy to cool off.

The cows arise early at daybreak before it gets too hot. They graze until the temperature climbs before retreating to shady spots. They usually head for groves of trees, particularly the Texas Pecan trees that provide the most shade. There they lay or stand throughout the hottest part of the day before heading out to graze again at the end of the day.

A cow or perhaps the bull will end up with babysitting duties with many calves throughout the hottest portion of the day. As if by signal, the calves will return late in the day to suckle their mamas before bedding down for the night. They sleep in a large group, presumably for safety reasons from predators.
Fortunately, this summer has provided ample green grass for the cows. The pastures benefited greatly from early summer rains. The rancher also benefited by not having to put out hay during late summer when the green grass typically turns brown and becomes too short to graze.

The phrase “dog days of summer” derives from astronomy. Dog days originated in ancient Roman times when people noticed that the star Sirius (known as the dog star in the “Big Dog Constellation” because of its extreme brightness) would rise with the sun from July to August.

Since our dog Bella sleeps during the daytime in an air conditioned house, “dog days of summer” somehow just doesn’t fit. Our cows best exemplify the lassitude that comes with the summer’s heat.

But do astronomical references to cows exist? Well, glad you asked and yes they do.

Cow supernovae are a newly-labeled subclass of the explosive events, which occur when giant stars reach the end of their lives; they run out of fuel and collapse, triggering powerful explosions. Depending on the original star’s size, the explosion can give birth to either a black hole or a neutron star. We can thank Mr. GOOGLE for this information.

Stay cool if you can.

If you have not had the chance to read my latest book, Hitler’s Maladies and Their Impact on World War II: A Behavioral Neurologist’s View (Texas Tech University Press), I invite you to do so. The book explores an important aspect of the Hitler story and World War II that has not been well studied. Many of Hitler’s catastrophic errors including the premature invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the slowness of German forces to counterattack at the Battle of Normandy in 1944, and the highly risky Battle of the Bulge in late 1944 into 1945, can be better understood, knowing the sizeable impact that Hitler’s physical and mental conditions had on these vital battles.

Also, consider picking up a copy of my earlier book, Carrying The Black Bag: A Neurologist’s Bedside Tales (Texas Tech University Press). Please join me on my personal journey as a physician and meet my patients whose reservoirs of courage, perseverance, and struggles to achieve balance for their disrupted lives provide the foundation for this book. But step closely, as often they speak with low and muffled voices, but voices that nonetheless ring loudly with humanity, love, and most of all, courage.

Tagged: animal behavior, Carrying The Black Bag, Cattle Ranching, cow babysitters, cow behavior, How cows cool off during hot summer days, Medicine Spirit Ranch, summer heat