This is Sage’s calf playing football with the new straw that we were ‘trying’ to shake out to top up the bedding in his shelter. This little fella had different ideas though and decided he wanted to shake it out by kicking and head butting it and then rolling in it just to make sure… We could not really get the camera to focus quickly enough. It is fab that although the cows don’t have as much space as they would in a field, they have enough in their woodchip pad and shelters to play around like this. Sage came in at one point to join in and then both went outside where a load of high kicking and running around then took place which Parsley’s calf also joined in with.
So, why do animals play? There is no one definite answer here and the study of animal play is a topic that many scientists spend all their lives working on. Some scientists believe the following provide SOME answers: play teaches animals to be sociable and learn how to get on with others; play helps develop co-ordination and physical strength; play encourages bonds/friendships with certain animals. All of these are useful skills for when the animals become adult and have to be more independent and then (in the wild) find a mate and breed. Some scientists believe the way animals play is directly linked to how they have to live as an adult so a prey animal (such as a goat), plays by running a lot as this then prepares them for when they might have to run away from a predator. An animal such as a lion however, who IS the predator, plays more biting and catching games and so develops skills needed for when they have to catch their 'prey' later on in their lives!! Quite what trashing a load of straw prepares a calf for, we are not sure...
The big question is do animals play because it is fun: after all, humans do. Again, for some animals the answer does seem to be 'yes'! If this calf did not want to play in the straw then surely, he wouldn’t have done, would he??