E-I-E-I-O

This weekend was College Royal, the big open house at the U of Goo.  It is a time when everybody shows off what they can do.  Everybody except the college of arts.  in fact the only arty thing is a juried art show.  most people are there for the science stuff.  In fact, throughout most of my undergrad at this university most of my fellow students thought that College Royal was just the name of the big prom-like dance that happens the weekend before to kick off the celebrations.  I haven't been in about 5 or 6 years, so i decided i needed to go this weekend.  plus i need to prove to you all in BC that there really are cows (and horses and sheep and pigs) a 5 minute walk away from my house.

So I will now take you on a tour of "Old MacDonald's New Farm"

Food time in the Dairy Barn, oh so tiring this eating.

These two little piggies were desperately trying to get back in with the big mama sow.  Either that or there was something really tasty on that grill!

These little guys were pretty much the only guys making noise.  I was so cute to see the little children jump and giggle when they suddenly realized that sheep actually go "baaaa"

and, last but not least, la piece de resistance, Snowball, the cow with a hole in her side!  The man did stick his hand all the way in, but he did it very quickly and my camera was running out of batteries, so I got him clearing the grassy cud away to put her plug back in.  The hole goes right into her largest stomach and it doesn't hurt her at all because she has grown up with it in her side.  this hole is really just for teaching and research purposes, but they have put smaller holes in other cows who have troubles with getting rid of gasses.  They currently have three cows with these holes.

This brings us to the end of our tour.  There were also piglets, lots more sheep, donkeys, horses, chickens, ornamental ducks, and rainbow trout, but they weren't very photogenic. Things have definitely changed, we used to be able to walk right into the Dairy Barn, and we used to be able to pet all the animals, and people used to be allowed to stick their hand inside the cow, but now everything is cordoned off and only demonstrated.  So sad this emphasis on safety.