Cow Uses Broom as Multi-Tool, Scientists Stunned

A cow in a small Austrian village has rewritten what scientists thought they knew about animal intelligence.

Veronika, a pet cow living in the picturesque town of Nötsch im Gailtal, has spent years perfecting her ability to scratch herself with a broom. Her owner, an organic farmer and baker named Witgar, first noticed this behavior a decade ago but thought little of it until researchers got involved.

When cognitive biologist Alice Auersperg from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna saw footage of Veronika, she knew she had to investigate. Auersperg and colleague Antonio Osuna-Mascaró traveled to observe the cow over two weeks last summer, documenting 70 separate trials of tool use.

What they found exceeded expectations. Veronika uses her tongue to grip the broom handle and maneuver it to reach different parts of her body. But here's where it gets truly fascinating: she sometimes flips the broom around, using the bristled end for tougher scratches and the smooth handle for more sensitive areas.

At first, researchers thought the flipping was accidental. "But after a while we started to observe a pattern," Osuna-Mascaró told The Guardian. Veronika was making deliberate choices about which end to use based on what part of her body needed scratching.

This flexible use of a single tool for multiple purposes has only been documented in one other species: chimpanzees. The findings, published in Current Biology in January, represent the first scientifically confirmed case of tool use in cattle.

Why This Inspires

The researchers don't believe Veronika is a genius cow. Instead, they think her loving home environment gave her opportunities most farm animals never get. Witgar provided sticks, rakes, and other objects she could experiment with, plus the time and freedom to develop her skills.

Veronika also shares a deep bond with her owner, mooing loudly whenever she thinks his car is approaching. This relationship may have encouraged her curiosity and problem-solving abilities in ways industrial farm settings simply don't allow.

The study challenges scientists to reconsider which animals might possess hidden intelligence. Anecdotal reports exist of tool use in goats and water buffalo, but researchers haven't looked closely enough to document them properly.

"Perhaps the absurd thing was not the absurdity of a cow using tools, but the absurdity of us never thinking that a cow might be intelligent," Auersperg told The New York Times.

This discovery opens doors for understanding farm animal cognition in entirely new ways.