Is the Cow Bell Being Replaced?
5 Jan 2017
In western Austria, a farmer with cows is swapping the standard cow bells for GPS tracking devices after receiving a complaint from irritated guests about the noise.
A cow bell is used to make it easier to locate animals, particularly cows, who wander off. Even though they have long been used on cows, cow bells are often used on many other types of animals. Cow bells are typically made from bronze, brass, iron, wood or copper and the collar that holds the bell is made with leather and wood fibers.
It’s hard to say when cow bells came into use exactly, but true recognition of them can be dated back to the Iron Age and over 5000 years ago was when the earliest archaeological evidence came in from Neolithic China in the 3rd millennium BC. It was during this time that there was evidence of pottery cow bells in early forms which were most probably used for tracking cattle, sheep and goats. Metal bells replaced the pottery bells later on.
After the snow has melted in Western Europe during the spring, villages would release their cattle to graze in the high alpine meadows during what was known as Alpaufzug. The event repeats every fall under a different name called Alpabzug when the cattle return.
Although you might believe that the noise that cow bells make are gentle and are as natural as wooden chalets and soaring peaks of the Alpine landscape, landlord Günter Frick didn’t think so and brought up charges last summer against Engelbert Längle.
He claimed that every time the cows drank the metal trough of water, the bells would make a great deal of noise. This trough was close to his property in Zwischenwasser in Vorarlberg state.
Längle, however, who had a family history of farming for over 300 years argued that the bells were needed to locate his cattle and needed to stay.
Finally, the two came to an agreement where Frick would spend 3,000 euros to have the cows equipped with GPS tracking devices (which are silent).
GPS tracking has long been used to track animals, their activities, habitats and behaviors. It enables researchers to gather up real-time data on the animals so they can gain necessary and valuable insight.
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