Giant Friesian cow

My maternal grandfather was a farmer in southern Minnesota who raised Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle; these are the classic black-and-white cows used for milk production for the past 2000 years. Wikipedia has a more-than-you-need-to-know discussion of the cattle, but of relevance for today is that a normal mature cow stands about 4'3" at the shoulder.

The image above is of Chilli, a British Friesian that at 6'6" is probably the tallest cow in the U.K. He liveds at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard, Somerset, where he was abandoned as a baby nine years ago. The previous world record holder was an American Holstein-Durham cross named Mount Katahdin, which stood at 6' 2".

My Norwegian grandfather would certainly have been delighted with a typo in the Telegraph (U.K.) article: "Despite his size, Miss Clarke described him as being “very friendly and gentle.” The steer grazes on grass during the day and enjoys the occasional swede as a treat."



update: I've just learned that "swede" was not a misprint for "sweet", but rather the British term for a rutabaga - from the dialectical Swedish "rotabagge", according to Wikipedia, which offers this intriguing fact:

Prior to pumpkins being readily available in the UK and Ireland (a relatively recent development), swedes/rutabagas were hollowed out and carved with faces to make lanterns for Halloween. Often called "jack o'lanterns", or "tumshie lanterns" in Scotland, they were the ancient symbol of a damned soul.

Update #2: Chilli has died, apparently of complications of arthritis related to his large size.