Moo-dini! Crafty cow proves to be the ultimate escape artist after opening her holding pen door using just her TONGUE
- Hedwig is permanent resident at Paragon Advanced Breeding Group in Cumbria
- The Angus-dairy cross was recorded as she looped her tongue around the bolt
- She then placed it in her mouth before pushing the gate open and strutting away
A clever cow was caught on camera escaping her cattle pen by skilfully unbolting the door using just her tongue.
Vet Dan Griffiths, who works at the Paragon Advanced Breeding Veterinary Group in Penrith, Cumbria, said that Hedwig the cow had been spotted wandering in the yard of her own accord twice in the space of a few days.
Large animal technician Paul Robinson decided to keep an eye on the ‘inquisitive’ Angus-dairy cross, who is a permanent resident of the breeding centre, and soon spotted her performing the bizarre escape trick.
He decided to record Hedwig as she looped her tongue around the handle of the bolt and placed it in her mouth before pushing the gate open and strutting away.
In the clip, Hedwig can be seen peering over the top of the metal gate of her cattle pen before bowing her head towards the bolt.
She sticks out her tongue and wraps it around the handle with great dexterity before placing the entire thing in her mouth.
Hedwig then pulls her head backwards to release the bolt from its catch and nuzzles the pen door open before brazenly strutting out into the yard.
The bizarre video of Hedwig, who was around 15-16 months old at the time, was shared on Paragon Advanced Breeding’s Facebook page back in November.
Hedwig (left), who is a permanent resident at the Paragon Advanced Breeding Veterinary Group in Penrith, Cumbria, was caught on camera escaping her cattle pen by skilfully unbolting the door using just her tongue (right)
Speaking about the footage, Dan, 38, said he had never witnessed an animal using their tongue to successfully perform a getaway and added that it required being ‘in the right place at the right time’ to catch on camera.
He said: ‘She seems to be a bit more nosy and managed to find her way to pull the handle on the gate and use her tongue to do it – it’s not something a lot of them would do.
‘We have a lot of cattle and it’s very rare for that type of thing to happen – she’s just an inquisitive animal and was trying different things and it opened one time, and that was it.
‘It’s not uncommon for it to happen [animals trying to escape], but to get it on video you have to be in the right place at the right time.
The Angus-dairy cross, who was around 15-16 months old at the time, nuzzles the pen door open before she brazenly struts out into the yard
‘I’ve seen a sheep do it once before and plenty of cows trying.
‘They try all sorts of things – we’ve had ones rubbing their back end up against the gate trying to push it open – I haven’t ever witnessed it using her tongue like that or seen it on video.’
Dan said that there are additional gates that mean Hedwig could not get out beyond the barn but admitted that they have been forced to implement an extra measure of tying her gate shut to ensure she can no longer escape.
Dan said: ‘It just so happened that Paul was there when she was doing it – he was able to get the video because he was keeping an eye on her.
‘They are quite intelligent – she hadn’t been in that pen for that long really, she worked it out quite quickly.
‘We have some that are more inquisitive than others – they play around with things and then they happen to find something that works and then they keep doing it.
‘The video is a bit of light-heartedness, particularly at a time when there’s lots of negativity going around – I think that’s why Paul shared it.’