Description

This is not a cow, it is a Coo. A Highland Coo to be exact, which are surprisingly hard to find. We were delighted to happen upon this guy standing right next to a passing place along a single-track road on the Isle of Mull in Scotland’s Middle Hebrides. We pulled up next to it, getting as far off the road as we could so I could get this shot, which I took out the car window. In so doing we created a momentary “coo jam” as we called it when two other vehicles converged on us, which is the most common traffic problem on the island. Totally worth it.

I swear these are the cutest bovines on the planet, with their shaggy emo-kid bangs. They are also very docile. They just hang out in the damp cool fields, munching on the verge and laying about. This guy barely moved when we pulled up right next to it. We tried to give it an apple as a thank you but it just stood there.

We saw only a few more in one other field, excluding the pair of these magnificent animals living at the Glencoe Visitors Center in a very muddy enclosure which are perpetually on display. Most have this signature Scottish red coat, but we also saw one or two which were black.