Milk from Cows?

[Dog Moon]

Yes, but do apes/monkeys/chimps suck off the milk from cows?

 

[Umbran]

Yes, but do apes/monkeys/chimps suck off the milk from cows?

They don't need to, thanks to that wonderful invention called "thought". Humans know human babies drink milk, and grow up to be strong and healthy. Humans know that calves and colts and goatlings drink milk, and grow up to be big and strong. The analogy is pretty darned clear, there. Why does it seem at all strange that humans would then try the milk of other species?

Better to ask - who the heck thought that eating the smelly, rotten milk would be a good idea?

 

[Henry]

Let's not get into the McDonald's Coffee story, please -- there are a lot of misconceptions running around for that story, and plenty of arguments buried in it.

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

As for Milk:
Rest assured that ANYTHING and EVERYTHING physically possible has been tried in the scale of human history. People drink JET FUEL in food studies, and even as cheap booze! (Just read a news story that said brewers in Nairobi, Kenya were making illegal Changaa by including Jet Fuel in the mix!) Many discoveries in history were made by someone who did something reckless and didn't get killed. How else do you explain Street Luge?

On the subject of stupidity: stupidity and ignorance aren't the same thing, just like intelligence and wisdom aren't. One can be ignorant or without knowledge of a subject, and someone should not think less of them; someone can do things that will get them killed KNOWINGLY, and that is a bit harder to understand, however.

 

[Nellisir]

It probably became "common practice" as raising domestic cattle became more common (OK, that's "duh", bear with me). A certain number of births have difficulties, and sometimes you have to milk the mother, or another mother, to supply the baby. Humans have wetnurses. Animals aren't so accepting of other babies, so humans do the milking. That gives you the technical skills to do it.

After that, somebody probably just got thirsty.
Anyways, people milk cows, water buffalo, horses, sheep, reindeer, and goats. I don't know about llamas, camels (though I'd assume so), or pigs. Frankly, I wouldn't want to milk a pig just because pigs are mean SOBs with big biting teeth (as are camels, but I don't think a camel would -eat- you -- a pig would).

It's my understanding that western europeans are the only people to regularly drink large quantities of cow milk -- most people in the world are lactose intolerant, and can't process it.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Stormborn]

If an animal can eat it, the logic goes, a human can. A calf suckles, says our distant ancestor, I bet I can too.

The funny thing is, no matter how long we have been drinking and eating the stuff (and likely it was more eating than drinking at least for adults), our systems can't really process it! Adult mammals were not meant to drink milk. We don't have the right enzymes and intestinal bacteria for it. For a large portion of the population it is not a real problem. We get something out of it, not as much as we could have but some, but for those who have lactose issues - milk is virtually poision.

 

[Aeolius]

Rest assured that ANYTHING and EVERYTHING physically possible has been tried in the scale of human history.

kinda like Jell-O...who decided to boil cow hooves up and chill the resulting concoction?

 

[reveal]

kinda like Jell-O...who decided to boil cow hooves up and chill the resulting concoction?

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story011.htm

 

[reveal]

If an animal can eat it, the logic goes, a human can. A calf suckles, says our distant ancestor, I bet I can too.

That's what I was going to say. Since humans are mammals and suckle, our ancestors probably thought that they, too, could get the milk from other mammals such as cows and goats.

And goats milk is actually easier to digest than cows milk. It has less lactose.

 

[Turanil]

How did the first people to 'discover' milk, well, discover it?

This happened 9478 years ago. A man who had traveled through the mountains and tasted snow and discovered it would eventually turn into drinkable liquid in his mouth, wondered if it would also be the case of milk, since milk, like snow, is white.

However, it took ages before milk would actually be turned into ice cream...

 

[der_kluge]

I've often wondered the origins of a great number of things.

Look around your daily life. There's tons of stuff that make you wonder how in the world they ever came to be. Like iron smithing, for example. Who's idea was it to take rocks out of the ground and forge them into tools?