Bull Facts
An Eclectic Collection Of Bull Facts
In any discussion of bull facts, our thoughts tend to focus on a herd of cattle, and the role the bull plays in the herd, which basically is one of breeding. But there is a wealth of different facts about bulls, ranging form cattle breeding, to sports, to astronomy, and mythology. Let's take a look at some of these far ranging bits of information.
The most well known of bull facts is, in the world of cattle, the bull is the male member, an intact (not castrated) male to be precise. The castrated male is called a steer. The male generally has the responsibility for breeding, servicing the cows if you will. A bull having desirable traits to pass on to its offspring is a valuable animal, and can command a good price, as can its semen. A bull can typically sire about 25 calves during each breeding season.
Bulls are also well known in two sports, bull fighting and bull riding. One of the bull facts which is not true, yet believed by many, is that the color red infuriates the animal, and you wouldn't want to be near one if wearing red clothing. In truth, bulls and all cattle for that matter are color blind, and the color red has no particular meaning to them. What irritates the bull is movement, like the waving of a bullfighter's cape, or the flapping of a sheet, of most any color. Whether you are waving a cloth at it or not, some bulls can be very dangerous animals, and will do you in, given a chance. Others, like Ferdinand, are more mellow.
In the sport of bullfighting, things do not usually go well for the bull. On occasion however, a bull will perform with great bravery, perhaps even dispatching the toreador (bullfighter). In either case, the bull is often pardoned, and allowed to retire as somewhat of a celebrity. The other sport where a bull can become famous is in the rodeo event called bull riding. The goal of the bull rider is to stay on the back of the bull, keeping one hand free, for 8 seconds. Not a long time to be sure, but most of the time the rider is not successful, and is bucked off. When a bull consistently bucks off its riders, it can become well known indeed. Some famous rodeo bulls are Little Yellow Jacket, voted best bull in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Tour, two years running. Another, Outlaw, of Calgary Stampede fame, made 57 appearances before a cowboy finally stayed on its back for the required 8 seconds. The most famous of all may be Red Rock, who was never ridden in his professional career, spanning 309 attempted rides. Adding to our diverse bull facts, is another "sport", the Running Of The Bulls, an annual event in Pamplona, Spain, made famous by Ernest Hemingway. Injuries and occasional fatalities (13 since 1924), mark this event. A bull not known as being particularly dangerous made his debut in 1938, in the Disney classic "Ferdinand the Bull". Rather than fight with other bulls, or fight in the bull ring, Ferdinand's passion was sitting under a cork tree and smelling the flowers.
It should be mentioned, that the bulls performing in rodeo are treated well, and with great respect. If injured, they are not allowed to compete again until they have fully recovered. Their chances of serious injury during a bull riding event are very small, and when they do retire from the arena, they almost always are used for breeding purposes.
Finally, in our list of bull facts, we should mention a bull who has been famous for centuries. Taurus the bull, is one of the constellations in the night sky. Taurus is Latin for bull (note that in Spanish, also a Romance language, the name for the bull is Toro). Taurus is believed to be the subject in a 15,000 year old cave painting. Taurus, the bull and the constellation, played a prominent role in Greek mythology. We usually associate great strength and power with the bull, sometimes a bull represents danger, other times, as in a bull market, it represents a powerful move forward. Little wonder that our collection of bull facts covers such a wide area of subjects, where strength, quickness, and power, are the central themes. Even Ferdinand turned out to be a pretty big and strong guy.