A “pet cow” named Veronika can scratch her own back with a broomstick when she has an itch. Researchers told The New York Times this is the first recorded case of a cow using tools.

By Marise Schoonraad

For a cow, Veronika leads an idyllic life. She lives in a picturesque village in Carinthia, Austria, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and glacial lakes. She is the beloved pet of the Wiegele family and spends her days roaming wooded meadows. Not even an itch can disrupt Veronika’s contentment, as she simply scratches herself with a stick.

Alice Auersperg, a cognitive biologist at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna who studies innovative animal behaviour, published a book on the subject last year. Following its release, she began hearing from people wondering whether certain behaviours in their animals might also qualify as tool use.

One video, however, stood out.

A filmmaker scouting locations captured footage of Veronika using an old, battered rake to scratch her back.

“It seemed very purposeful and astute,” Auersperg said.

She and Antonio Osuna-Mascaró, one of the postdoctoral researchers in her laboratory, immediately contacted Veronika’s owner, Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker, The Guardian reports.

Wiegele told the researchers he had never taught Veronika to use tools. About ten years ago, however, he noticed she had begun picking up sticks and using them to scratch herself, and her technique had improved significantly over the years.

According to the scientists, Veronika’s tool-using behaviour is relatively rare. This is the first study to examine tool use in cattle, animals not typically known for advanced cognitive abilities.

“One difference between Veronika and other cattle may not be that she is an Einstein cow, but that she is kept as a pet,” Auersperg said.

She lives in a stimulating environment rather than on a production farm and has already celebrated her 13th birthday – a milestone many cattle never reach.

To test Veronika’s abilities, the researchers introduced her to a wooden brush normally used for cleaning decks. It has stiff bristles attached to a long wooden handle.

National Geographic reports the researchers repeatedly placed the brush on the ground in front of Veronika. She eventually curled her tongue around it, set it upright, steadied it with her teeth and positioned it against her body.

Veronika mostly scratched herself with the brush end, rubbing it back and forth across her torso. Occasionally, she also aimed the handle end at herself, leading researchers at first to think she was using the brush clumsily and making a mistake.

Closer observation, however, revealed she used the bristled end to scratch the thick, tough skin on her back, while employing the smooth wooden handle to gently scratch the softer, more sensitive skin on her underside, such as her udder or stomach.

“She was using a much more careful approach,” Osuna-Mascaró said. “It wasn’t a mistake. It was a meaningful use of the handle end of the tool.”