Researchers document cow who learns and uses tool
Jan 22, 2026, 8:08 AM | Updated: 3:22 pm
A team from the University of Vienna have detailed the unusual case of a cow using a tool.
Apparently, there’s a Swiss Brown cow named Veronika who started using a stick to scratch places on her back. Then, she moved on to longer brush, and would use the “brush” side to scratch where her skin is thickest, and the stick end to scratch her more sensitive areas. Researchers are fascinated with that fact that she not only uses a “tool,” but different parts of that tool to scratch different parts of her body and applies a slightly different technique with each part.
They’re now looking into how this may highlight the intelligence of farm animals. What’s next, pigs flying…a plane?
