Moo wants stripes

Vaishnavi Sridhar writes about a pet calf who finds an unexpected fix for pesky flies.

Eggy, what is new at the zoo?” Moo asked his best friend.

Moo was a pet calf. He lived on a farm with his family. He was best friends with Eggy, a cattle egret. Eggy and his family flew all around and brought back all the news they found.

“Moo, there are some new animals at the zoo. They have come from far away. They have stripes. They look like our friend Equu, the horse, but with white stripes. They are called zebras. It was fun chatting with them,” said Eggy.

Though Moo wanted to listen to more of Eggy’s stories, he was busy thinking of something else. The pesky biting flies were bothering him. He wanted to get rid of them. The situation was grim, and Moo’s irritation had reached the brim. He waved his tail, trying to swat the flies.

“Moo, what is up with your tail? Is it those pesky flies again? Let me ease your pain,” said Eggy, as he flew to eat the flies.

“Aah, what a relief. Thank you, my friend. These flies are a menace. I don’t know why they like bothering me. There are so many more interesting things to eat,” said Moo.

“I really wish I could get rid of them, but I don’t know how,” he added sadly.

“This is exactly what I was trying to tell you. The zebras at the zoo have a solution for this problem. They told me that their black and white stripes might be protecting them from the fly bites,” said Eggy.

“Wow. How does that work?” asked Moo.

“The stripes cause confusion. It is all a game of illusion. Flies are masters at target finding. Now, we both use different senses to find our food. You use your nose and eyes to find grass. I use my eyes to find my food. The flies use a combination of signals to find their prey, including their eyesight,” said Eggy.

“Flies are attracted to dark colours. If they see a single dark-coloured prey, then bull’s-eye! There is no confusion. They land on their target easily. But when there is a white-and-black pattern, like zebra stripes, they get confused, and they are not able to land on their prey very well,” he added.

“Woohoo! Patterns to the rescue! Now I want to be a zebra. I wish I had zebra patterns on my body,” said Moo.

“Moo, now that is an idea. Maybe you should ask your human family to paint you,” said Eggy, bidding adieu.

Moo decided to get painted in stripes. He had to find a way to share this with his human family. The young son of his human family often liked to read to Moo. He also spoke to Moo. “I will tell the young boy about the stripes. But how should I go about it?” wondered Moo.

One fine day, the opportunity arrived. “Hi Moo. How are you, my friend?” said the young boy. He had a paper in his hand. “Moo,” said Moo, happily welcoming his friend.

“Today I’ll read something interesting to you,” said the young boy. Moo was excited. But the pesky flies came again. Moo started moving his tail to swat them away.

“Moo, these flies bother you, don’t they? I have the perfect solution for you,” said the young boy. It was as if the universe had listened to Moo. “Do you know that scientists have tried painting zebra-like white stripes on black cows in Japan? And guess what! These cows suffer fewer fly bites compared to black cows. Maybe we should put a zebra-like coat on you too, or probably paint you,” said the young boy.

“Thank you, young boy,” said Moo, mooing. “Sorry, pesky flies, but you cannot annoy me anymore. I am going to get a protective makeover,” he added excitedly. He was looking forward to sharing this news with Eggy.

The young boy’s family painted white stripes on Moo. Moo was loving his new look. Soon, Eggy came to visit Moo.

“Moo, Moo. Where are you?” said Eggy, looking for him.

“I am here, Eggy. How is my new look?” said Moo.

“I almost didn’t recognise you, Moo! You look like those zebras. Did your human family paint you?” asked Eggy.

“Yes, they did!” said Moo, while telling Eggy how this had been tried and tested by Japanese scientists.

“Do these stripes only stop the biting flies? Or is there more to them? I should probably ask the zebras,” said Eggy.

“Well, whatever else these stripes help with, I am waiting to experience those wonderful things too. But nothing beats not being bitten by those flies,” said Moo.

“These stripes have certainly brought out the poet in you, Moo. Wonder what other talents they will help uncover,” said Eggy.

“With those pesky flies gone, I have a lot of time to explore, find out, and showcase my talents,” said Moo.