I live in a rural area of northwest Washington with a thriving community of small independent dairy farmers. I love driving past vast fields and seeing a herd of a few dozen dairy cows hanging out, grazing on the fresh clean pasture, doing cow stuff.
Sometimes when you drive past a herd, the entire herd will be lying down. According to legend, this means that it will rain within the hour. Many people swear that this is true. However, in my observation, it is not. And science bears me out on this one. (I wouldn't exactly call this an "urban legend." Is there such a thing as a "rural legend"?)
Just yesterday I passed several scattered herds which were lying down. And yet we have gone a month without rain (the seventh longest dry spell in Washington's recorded history). It certainly didn't rain yesterday, and it won't rain today. In fact, there isn't a speck of rain in the entire ten-day forecast.
Why do cows lie down? Often, it's just to rest. You may notice that you most often see a herd of cows lying down in mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Cows are ruminants, which means that they chew their food twice.
