Cow Eyes

Cows are incredibly expressive, as anyone who has watched the various videos posted online of them being let out into fields after spending the winter inside can attest. The term "cow eyes" was first used to describe how wide their eyes can open. But for cows, what we would interpret as fear or astonishment in humans actually means something very different. It's the expression they have when they are joyful.

This wasn't confirmed in a rapid or simple manner. It required 436 eye pictures and observations of 13 dairy cows during a two-month period in 2015 by Helen S. Proctor and Gemma Cardner for Elsevier Incorporated. Contrary to what most people believe, they discovered that when the cows were caressed or given other forms of positive attention, more of their eye whites were exposed. An average of 44.8% of the eye whites were found to be visible when the cows were being tested, which appears to be an incredibly accurate measurement of the surface area of an eye for assessing a cow's emotional condition. But guess what? It's worthwhile to ensure Betsy is content.