Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Thanks for this, have saved it for a bit of weekend relaxation. Not always a big fan of cows unless they have a fence between me and them, but they have had a massive impact on humanity.

The Natural Histories programme looks at the link between the domesticated cow/bull and their ancestors the auroch - not in any great depth though.
This is a bit more scientific -
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151026092912.htm

I'm fascinated and nervous of cattle in equal measure. Like you, I'm fine when there's a fence between us and believe them to be sentient creatures (although not a strict vegetarian any more - never, ever eat beef).

I think most of us have been deterred at some time or other from getting up close to the site we were visiting because of cattle. The oddest behaviour I've witnessed was when walking up to Barbury Castle - there was a cow and bullock separated from another bullock by a barbed wire fence. The three of them seemed to be interacting over the fence. On the way back we watched in astonishment as the lone bullock actually climbed over the barbed wire fence to get into the same field as the other two. Never seen that before - or since.

I'm not too bothered by cows unless they are with young calves but bullocks can be dangerous and I am wary of sharing their field.

Finding out they can climb fences is similar to the Doctor discovering that Daleks have learned to climb stairs. https://youtu.be/NfoYrCBea74