A lot of spit
A cow can produce up to 50 gallons of saliva a day, says a Saskatchewan Agriculture news release. Put that in your cud and slosh it around.
That’s an impressive amount of fluid but since a cow does its chewing in two stages its salivary glands work overtime. Additionally, cows solve boredom by chewing on things. Often you’ll see a cow gumming on an old bone.
At University of Alberta Feeders’ Day one year we were shown a wooden fence rail that was nearly worn through from cows licking on it. It must have had tasty paint.
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Back in the 1950s I attended a 4-H workshop at Airdrie, Alta., where Grant MacEwan showed a group of young people first hand how cows are constructed. A heifer was slaughtered and butchered by the 4-Hers following MacEwan’s instruction.
After the animal had been opened he carefully cut open the reticulum.
“One thing you’ll learn about cattle beasts is that they have a peculiar taste in selecting what to eat,” he said. “It’s important not to leave hardware lying around.” Then he showed them the contents of the reticulum, two thumb tacks and a rusty nail. The reticulum is a sac that intercepts non-food items. Grant told them that many a cow died as a result of sharp nails penetrating the abdominal cavity.
We humans produce quantities of saliva when the family cook is baking supper but we’re not in the 50-gallon league.
If a cow can slaver over nails whilst also scarfing big round bales of hay and feed boxes of concentrate I guess producing 50 gallons of saliva a day is within the realm of possibility.
