On St Valentine’s Day, we brought you pictures and stories of animals across the UK that captured the hearts of our scholars. We’re sure you noticed one high profile animal was missing… the Highlands cow! Well, the Highlands cow (aka Heilan coo) is always so well loved by our scholars that we thought it deserved a whole blog of it’s own to celebrate the absolute adorableness of the animal. So, here’s one animal that has stolen multiple hearts.
Fun fact; a bull Highland cow weighs roughly 800kg and a cow 500kg, which means that for cattle, they are actually quite light. Still, we wouldn’t advise trying to lift one.
Burak Unal, Turkey
‘A Chevening Scholarship means more than just academic results. It means experience, travel, friendship, and most importantly fun!
It is one of the rare programmes in which you can find yourself on a road trip with people from all around the world: a car filled with people from Turkey, Colombia, Oman, Brunei, and Brazil. We learnt that the world is big and diverse; but also very small and similar!
We went on an amazing car trip to the Highlands, and experienced Scottish nature and the lifestyle there. The Highlander cattles are special animals that you cannot see anywhere else in the world. They are charismatic with their fancy hairstyle and their huge body. And most importantly, they were very friendly to us – they posed for our cameras and allowed us to touch them!
They did not only steal my heart, they stole the heart of all five of us!’
When you think of a Highlands cow, you probably imagine them all to be a ginger colour, but these animals also come in other colours including red, yellow, silver, white, black, and more!
Caroline Brocos, Peru
‘Before coming to the United Kingdom, the mental representation I had of a cow was short hair, and usually black and white spots. Now that I am here and have had the pleasure of meeting the famous furry cows of the Highlands, my mental representation has totally changed. What amazing animals!’
Despite looking like they could have had a very popular Myspace profile in 2005, the Highland cows’ image is more than just to preserve their emo look. Living in mountainous terrain during harsh Scottish winters, the Highlands cow is able to survive their environment due to their thick woolly undercoats, their long hair which guards their eyes from many elements, and their big horns which they use to move snow and get to food. Adorable and functional, all at once!
Jorge Miguel Orendain Manzo, Mexico
‘The Highland cow is probably one of the most iconic idols from Scotland and it’s probably their unique woolly fur or their long horns that attract us.
After trying to meet some Highland cows in the northernmost parts of Scotland without success, I finally found them in the city where I’m studying: Glasgow! They can be found in Pollok Country Park, in the Southside of Scotland’s biggest city. Definitely a must for every Chevener travelling to Glasgow or Scotland.’
The Highland cow is known for its friendly nature and will often approach people to demand attention, but to be honest, who could ignore them anyway?! Just look at how cuddly they are (but still, you probably – definitely – shouldn’t try to hug them)!
Azim Soriano Kassim, Brunei
‘These pretty emo-looking Highlander cow photos shot up north in Scotland were taken hours before our rented car endured an unfortunate event where we got a flat-tyre and were left stranded for a few hours in Stirling, Scotland. That meant we, a group of Chevening Scholars from Brazil, Brunei, Colombia, Oman, and Turkey, could not return in time to attend the Best of British Burns Night Ceilidh event in Glasgow that we came all the way to enjoy!
Yet, despite the missing out on the Ceilidh dance, as I checked my DSLR camera, the postcard-worthy pictures of these rockstar-like Highland cows, that were not the slightest bit tempted to ram me into smithereens, as well as Scottish sheep made the Highland road trip in the land of the Scots a trip to remember!
Some advice for other Cheveners who seek an audience with the Heilan coos, perhaps it helps to wear a peaceful colour like blue and not red in front of the cows. That said, always be careful, because when you mess with the bull, you get the horns!’
Thank you to all of our scholars who submitted pictures and stories to this theme.
To submit your own pictures and stories to the latest themes, please check your most recent Scholargram for submission details.
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