You know the nursery rhyme:
Hey diddle diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed
To see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Modern Farmer magazine, which is currently celebrating "Cow Week," took a good, hard look at the bovine portion of that rhyme. Tyler LeBlanc wrote this expose of sorts, and NPR's Wade Goodwyn asked him whether a cow jumping over the moon is as ridiculous as a cat playing the violin. Here's what he says:
Can cows even jump? Yes, LeBlanc says. "When I first thought about it, I kind of just assumed cows couldn't jump at all — I don't know why, probably just because of their size," he says. "But strangely enough, they can jump. There's one incident I found from some English newspaper where a cow apparently jumped about six feet up onto the roof of a barn."
Has a cow ever been around the moon? "Not unsurprisingly, they've never sent up a cow."
Could a cow go around the moon? "They have sent a few animals to the moon. The Russians were the first to do it," he says. They sent turtles and worms up in a "biological payload" that traveled around the moon. "Unfortunately they all kind of burnt up on re-entry, but it's not hard to think that you could put a cow in there and send it to the moon, if you wanted to."
Should a cow circle the moon? "I can't say I'm in favor," LeBlanc says — especially if it were to go the way Russia's animal voyage went. "It would be space barbecue."
This is NPR Moos.
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Transcript
WADE GOODWYN, HOST:
Move over, Shark Week - Modern Farmer magazine is celebrating Cow Week. And from the cutting edge of bovine journalism, we bring you an expose of sorts. We've all heard the nursery rhyme hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such sport and the dish ran away with the spoon.
Modern Farmer's been good enough to look into the bovine portion of the rhyme and Tyler Leblanc has written a piece looking into whether or not a cow jumping over the moon is as ridiculous as it sounds. Welcome, Tyler.
TYLER LEBLANC, BYLINE: Thanks for having me.
GOODWYN: Tyler, I guess it's silly for me to ask whether cows could jump.
LEBLANC: It's not a silly question. When I first thought about it, I kind of just assumed cows couldn't jump at all. I don't know why, just probably because of their size. But strangely enough, they can jump. There's one incident I found from some English newspaper where a cow apparently jumped about six feet up onto the roof of a barn.
GOODWYN: Most of our older and better-educated listeners know that chimpanzees preceded even humans into space and by all accounts did well. What about cows?
LEBLANC: I guess not unsurprisingly, they've never sent up a cow.
GOODWYN: Could they?
LEBLANC: They could. They have sent a few animals to the moon. The Russians were the first to do it. And they sent a - they called it a biological payload - and you can put air quotes around that I guess. It had turtles and worms and stuff inside of it. And they sent it around the moon. Unfortunately, they all kind of burnt up on reentry. But it's not hard to think that you could put a cow in there and send it to the moon if you wanted to.
GOODWYN: And what do you think of that proposition? Are you in favor?
LEBLANC: I can't say I'm in favor.
GOODWYN: Because the cow would burn up when it came back?
LEBLANC: Yeah it'd be space barbecue, I guess.
GOODWYN: You probably don't know this, but during my career as an NPR reporter, I've tried to make cows my audio trademark and put them in as many stories is as feasibly possible.
Like my very latest one, for example.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GOODWYN: (Cows mooing) Hal breeds 400 Angus cows...
GOODWYN: Do you think this is a smart or a dumb career move on my part, to equate myself with cow audio?
LEBLANC: (Laughter). I don't think it's a dumb move to position yourself on the barn animal side of journalism; I think you're doing the right thing.
GOODWYN: Great because you know, that's kind of my - I would say - becoming a brand for me. Tyler Leblanc, writer at Modern Farmer magazine. Thanks so much, Tyler.
LEBLANC: Thanks for having me.
GOODWYN: Next week, the dish and the spoon - do mixed marriages really work long-term? Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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