Credit: Turtblu

Baby sitting on a toy cow.

A mechanical cow that breaks wind on the hour has become Edinburgh’s latest tourist attraction.

The bovine backside has been attached to the side of the Rowan Tree pub in the city’s historic Old Town.

It lifts its tail and shoots out a cloud of white smoke at passers-by throughout the day.

Pub landlord Norrie Rowan, a former Scotland international rugby star, said the cow was becoming as popular with tourists as nearby Greyfriars Bobby.

It was installed on the side of the pub earlier this year, but the mechanics that allow it to break wind at 1100 GMT, noon and 1300 GMT are a new addition.

A dry ice machine ensures the flatulent beast is regular and helps locals keep track of time in a similar way to the city’s famous One O’clock Gun.

Mr Rowan said the cow was a bit of fun that had already become a popular landmark in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh.

He added: “The cow is already famous around Edinburgh and I get hundreds of tourists coming by and taking pictures of it.”

Kids are motivated by the darndest things.

For students at Cameron Elementary School, it was the prospect of seeing their principal, William Mannion, kiss a farm animal that motivated them to raise more than $1,000 for victims of the recent Southland fires.

On Wednesday, the students’ efforts paid off.

Led out by members of Covina High School’s agriculture department, a 7-month-old steer named Little One was greeted by hundreds of excited students, all of them cheering “Kiss it, kiss it!”

“Mr. Mannion will kiss the cow,” school librarian Vicki White said to the crowd. “And then, because you doubled it and got to $1,000, I will do it.”

The crowd erupted with each kiss gently placed on Little One’s nose.

“It was kinda weird to see Mr. Mannion do that,” commented Daniel Alvardo, 10. “He’s pretty cool because he keeps everything he says.”

Even Pamela Fowlkes, the office manager at Cameron Elementary, ended up kissing the cow.

“I’m just so proud to be able to kiss a cow because of everything that’s been done,” said Mannion. “It demonstrates what we do here at Cameron, because we really do care about our community. This is just about the best place I’ve ever seen.”

The event and school-wide fundraiser was conceived by White after realizing a need among the thousands of displaced residents following the fires surrounding Los Angeles and San Diego.

“When the fires started we wanted something to donate to locally,” White said. “We told the students that their coins would benefit the kids who lost their books and toys.”

White knew, however, that children respond well to reward.

After a short negotiation with Mannion concerning what might be an apt payoff, a compromise was agreed upon: If $500 was raised, Mannion would kiss a surprise farm animal during a special assembly.

So, for the first two weeks in November, buckets donated by the local Dollar Tree store were stationed in each classroom.

A total of $1,295.78 was raised during those two weeks, far overshooting the $500 goal.

Representatives from the Community Foundation serving Riverside and San Bernardino counties were on hand to receive the check. The money will be put toward the foundation’s Fire Victim’s Relief Fund.

“This donation means that citizens outside of our two county areas are concerned enough to dig deep into their pockets and provide assistance to those who are in need,” said Paula Myles, controller for the foundation.

The nation’s largest manure-to-natural gas plant got up and running Monday in the heart of Texas dairy country, a project expected to produce enough energy to power 11,000 homes a year.

In a high-profile example of the growing need for alternative energy, Huckabay Ridge gets manure from local dairy farms, processes it with grease and other restaurant waste, purifies it and turns it into natural gas.

“The beauty is that you take the waste products and you create a useful form of energy,” said Richard Kessel, president and CEO of Portsmouth, N.H.-based Environmental Power Corp. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Microgy Inc., owns the facility. “We look at these as non-depleting gas wells with a long-term supply of renewable energy.”

The Lower Colorado River Authority buys the gas and uses it to power homes in Central Texas, officials said. Next fall, San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will buy natural gas from Huckabay Ridge, which will generate the energy equivalent of 4.6 million gallons of oil annually.

“This is a turning point in agriculture. … Agriculture is no longer just food and fiber; it is now food and fiber and fuel,” state Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, said Monday at the plant’s opening ceremony, where only a faint odor of manure wafted through the air. “Agriculture is going to responsible for producing a large percent of the world’s fuel.”

Huckabay Ridge is near Stephenville in rural Erath County, the state’s top-producing dairy county. The state has about 335,000 dairy cows, including 52,000 in Erath County. Each dairy cow produces more than 15 gallons of manure per day.

The site had been a composting facility where farmers took manure. Now, more than a dozen farmers take their herds’ waste there, paying only for transportation. The facility does not buy the manure or charge farmers to drop it off.

“It’s a great thing for everybody,” said John Traweek, whose family-run Jam Dot Dairy has been operating in nearby Lingleville for 45 years.

He said it was a much-needed benefit for Erath County dairies, which have come under fire for manure runoff in the Bosque River. It is the main water source of Lake Waco downstream, where an overabundance of phosphorus caused massive algae blooms that were blamed for tainting Waco water’s taste and odor.

Last year Waco dropped its federal lawsuits against six of the 14 dairies it sued in 2004 in exchange for farmers’ changes designed to reduce water pollution. Waco previously reached settlements with eight dairies.

“I think the dairymen are excited about the opportunity this facility does provide, but this type of technology might not be the solution for every dairyman,” said John Cowan, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen.

Each day, about 10 manure-filled trucks arrive at the Huckabay Ridge, driving up a ramp made of dried, dark manure. The loads are dropped into a small tank where water is added, and then into a 1 million-gallon drum called a slurry tank, where the liquified waste swirls around.

The manure and restaurant grease then go into one of eight 900,000-gallon digester tanks, where bacteria feed on the waste for weeks to create methane gas. After purifying it to commercial standards, the natural gas is then distributed through a pipeline.

Officials said Texas has been a leader in agriculture and energy.

“Today these two sectors of our economy join together for something very special,” said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples. “Today is a real winning solution for agriculture, for our environment, for our state’s economy and for new sources of energy.”

Environmental Power has started similar projects in California and a few other states. It also has three digesters on small family-owned Wisconsin dairy farms that produce enough electricity for about 1,800 homes.

UK — A runaway cow who fell into a swimming pool in Haywards Heath has been successfully rescued by emergency services.

A couple living at a house in Colwood Lane, had a shock yesterday afternoon when they discovered the cow stuck in their swimming pool.

It is believed the animal escaped from nearby fields along with seven other cows who chose to graze in a neighbouring garden.

Owners of the house had covered their pool in tarpaulin, and the cow may have mistaken this for a hard surface.

The incident happened yesterday at around 2pm and firefighters, animal rescue and police were on the scene soon after. Divers were also present to enable close contact with the cow and to keep it calm.

Ian Walker, watch manager at Haywards Heath fire station said: “We emptied the water in the pool and used the high crane to lift the cow out. The cow was very tired and cold but once it has had some rest it will be OK.”

Duchess, the cow that broke records during her last lactation by milking 80 litres a day, has just given birth to a baby girl which is already showing signs of being a big producer.

Proud owners and Dairy Farmers suppliers, Cameron and Marie Lou Janke, of Westbrook, 15km west of Toowoomba, said the yet unnamed baby heifer has already shown traits of her mother.

“She’s huge,” Cameron said.

“And very particular - she’ll have a go at you if you try to get close.”

Cameron said he named all his cows, but so far, had not decided on a name for Duchess’s newborn.

“Somebody suggested Isabella because it was what Princess Mary called her new baby,” he said.

“I quite like it, as we think Duchess has a touch of royal blood.

“But I’d love to hear if anybody else has got any other suggestions – it gets hard finding names for a whole herd.”

Duchess is still recovering from the June 24 birth, which coincided with a cold snap.

“Also, it was a big baby, so she needs time to recuperate,” he said.

During her last lactation, Duchess produced 80 litres of milk per day, more than double the litres of any ordinary cow.

In an amazing feat, this genetically superior Holstein Friesian clocked up 17,750 litres at 3pc protein and 3.7pc butter fat within 305 days on just two milkings per day.

With Cameron’s herd average peaking at 35 litres per cow per day and considering Duchess was fed the same ration and mix of silage and grain as the rest of the herd, 27 year-old Cameron admitted she was a “pretty special” cow.

“We bought Duchess as a dry cow from a local breeder for $1200, but she originally arrived in Australia as an imported embryo from the US,” Cameron said.

“Her genetic make-up has a lot to do with her ability to produce milk, but you only get a cow this good after many generations of balanced breeding.

“She’s tall and wide and has a dominant personality – she also has a top udder.”

Interestingly, Cameron’s current number-one milk producer is actually Duchess’s first daughter, which is on her second lactation and producing 67 litres of milk per day.

“This is currently double that of my herd average, which leads me to think, she may even outperform her mother,” he said.

Cameron and Mary Lou manage a herd of 350 cows with Cameron’s parents, David and Cindy Janke, who own 400 hectares of land which they use to run their milking and dry herd, and grow silage crops.

A bovine wheelchair would have made a fitting present for Jersey Eliza who celebrated her 21st year last Monday.

The old cow with dodgy back legs was treated to a bucket of her favourite food - dairy pellets - and plenty of pats from family and friends who gathered to celebrate her special day.

Her owners, Kyabram’s Robert and Sue Johnston, say turning 21 is a rare feat for a dairy cow.

“(Modern dairy cows) walk a lot and are not kept after their productive years,” Mr Johnston said.

Eliza - full name Pagini Eliza Dawn - was born at Mr Johnston’s previous property in Bamawm Extension on May 14, 1986.

She calved down about 10 times and peaked at 6471 litres/year, comprising 342 kg butter fat and 256 kg protein.

“I never had the heart to sell her,” Mr Johnston said.

“She won the region’s (Jersey) On Farm Challenge in 1995 as a nine-yearold.”

Mr Johnston sold the farm about 21/2 years ago and set up a nursery with his wife just outside Kyabram.

“We kept two cows. I couldn’t part with her and the other one wasn’t good enough to sell,” Mr Johnston said.

“She (Eliza) would’ve been out of the second cow I ever bought.

“I didn’t like parting with any of my cows and knew all of them by name and their pedigrees back five generations.”

Eliza now has almost a hectare of reasonably green pasture to herself, but Mr Johnston is surprised she’s still kicking given arthritis plagues her hind legs.

“Seven years ago, I thought that was it, and every winter we think it’s her last,” he said.

So the Johnstons put a blanket on Eliza to keep the chill out during the winter months.

A two-and-a-half-year old maiden cow, which has started producing milk without giving birth to an offspring, has becomes the centre of attraction in the district of Satna in India, sources said today.

Sarita Dube said physical changes were seen in her calf a few days back and it developed into a mature cow.

Artificial Insemination Centre’s Veterinarian U K Garg said secretion of estrogen hormones from the body had caused the calf to yield milk.

Meanwhile, neighbours had started worshipping the calf considering it to be a divine incident, sources added.

Mobile phone ringtones of cows mooing are being used to lure stray leopards.

Forest guards in western India are using cell phones with ringtones of mooing cows, goats bleating and roosters crowing to attract leopards that have wandered into human settlements.

The wild cats in the state of Gujarat often roam into villages near forests in search of food, say officials, adding that this results in attacks on people.

But rather than use methods such as live bait like goats tied to trees to lure the leopards, which then fall into large pits dug by guards, officials say they have found a safer method to trap the cats.

D Vasani, a senior forest official in Gujarat, said: “The moos of a cow, bleating of a goat from the phone has proved effective to trap leopards. This trick works.”

Vasani said forest guards have downloaded the sounds of over a dozen animals as ringtones on their mobiles which they attach to speakers and fix behind a cage.

They then play the ringtone continuously for up to two hours until the curious leopard appears and moves into the cage looking for its easy meal.

Five leopards have so far been lured from villages since the new ringtone method was introduced a month ago.

The cats have all been released back into forest areas.

Wildlife activists welcomed the new initiative saying that previous methods of trapping the cats using pits often resulted in the animals getting injured.

For Wisconsin to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, it may take capturing more wind, expanding nuclear plants, and taking advantage of all the cows in America’s Dairyland.

“I believe we need more cows in the state to strengthen the cheese industry,” Judy Ziewacz, Gov. Jim Doyle’s executive director of the Office of Energy Independence, told business leaders Monday.

“But we also need to use the cows’ by-product called manure for energy,” said Ziewacz, named to her post by Doyle in April.

She spoke at the monthly “Business Connects with Government” luncheon program, sponsored by the Manitowoc-Two River Area Chamber of Commerce’s Voice of Commerce Committee.

The development of anaerobic digesters burning manure-produced methane to power everything from TV’s and lights in homes to MRI scanners in hospitals would be just one way to try to achieve the second-term governor’s goal of “25 by 25.”

Doyle has set three broad goals for the state:

# To generate 25 percent of the state’s electricity and 25 percent of its transportation fuel from renewable fuels by 2025.

# To capture 10 percent of the market share for the production of renewable energy sources by 2030. Doyle said achieving this goal would bring $13.5 billion annually to the state’s economy and create tens of thousands of new jobs.

# To become a national leader in research making alternative energies more affordable and available to all.

For example, Ziewacz said engineers and scientists in Wisconsin are among national leaders in developing different enzymes to more effectively break down the sugars in different cellulose products, including corn and dead wood on forest floors.

“We are seeing increased efficiencies in ethanol plants … there is a net gain in the energy needed to produce the ethanol compared to what is created,” said Ziewacz, who had been the deputy secretary for the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

She said Doyle has not taken additional development of nuclear power “off the table and is certainly an option to be discussed at the state and national level.”

Ziewacz supports wind turbine projects springing up around the state, although she doesn’t expect that form of renewable energy to be as significant a percentage of the state’s power portfolio as might be the case in Great Plains states.