If humans disappear tomorrow, life will go on. The cattle who walk around unshackled in their sheds will break free. Some are unable to escape their stalls, and will die of thirst or hunger, or of the pain in their breasts.
Many wombs are carrying new life. A cow nurses her offspring for as long as she sees fit. Calf mortality is reduced, as the mother herself is now responsible for the care and nourishment of her young. Everyone has to find food for themselves. Cattle return to grazing in meadows, fields and forests. Communities gather by lakes and flowing water.
Bovines can endure cold weather, as long as they can find shelter from the wind. Some freeze to death. Those that survive grow a thicker coat for the next winter. Predators pursue them, and yet, when they find bulls, the cows will reproduce. Their physical size and the herd protect them from many a peril. Nevertheless, in time, the cattle become smaller. Overall health improves as hard surfaces turn to soft soil, and captivity becomes freedom. Unpredictable circumstances consign some to an early grave, but more and more are given a chance to die of old age. Cattle culture flourishes, not only in its native regions, but also in Finland, America, Australia and Siberia. All those parts of the world named by man, to which he once took cattle, and to which the bovine migrants adapted.
