Despite Cy being the tough, alpha male that he is, he is easily frightened by random things. As you all know, Cy loves to “read” and consumes probably 5-10 magazines every day. Due to his reading obsession, we have discovered a decent number of things that frighten Cy and cause him to alarm call. Chimpanzees naturally alarm call to warn their group members of danger.
On the list of things that frighten Cy, is cows. Doesn’t matter the kind of cow, the look of the cow, any cow is enough to make him jump back and drop his magazine. Kelsi captured this exact scenario on video last year if you haven’t seen it already (click here)!
A few days ago, Cy was flipping through a farm magazine when he suddenly stumbled upon some photos of cows. We quickly knew what was happening as Cy began to loudly alarm call. Cy’s group members are used to this behavior from Cy, but they still always come to investigate in case it is more than a scary magazine. After several minutes of Cy alarm calling, Terry decided to save the day (or maybe he was annoyed with the endless alarm calls) and attempted to destroy the magazine that was causing Cy to be upset. He began ripping it apart with his teeth and even passed pages to me (who was sitting on the other side of the caging) because he knew I could throw them out.
We now have a theory that Cy must love the thrill of a scary magazine because Cy then reclaims the magazine scraps and tried to still look through them, while continuing to alarm call.
This isn’t the first time I have seen Terry try to save the day. Last October, I posted a blog about Cy alarm calling because of a giraffe in his magazine and Terry attempted to rip the pages apart for Cy but ultimately just threw them down the stairs. I will link that video here!
Marie says
..Not only does Terry get the page…… he tries to Shed the Whole Thing ……No need in Taking Chances….WHAT A GUY:hugging:
Jennie says
I don’t mean to make light of Cy’s seemingly genuine fears, but this blog post is literally making me laugh out loud. Cy must like the “scary pictures” the same way we humans (well some of us!) watch horror movies even though we know we will be scared and have nightmares for weeks afterward. And it is so awesome of Terry to come to his rescue — or, as you point out, just figure out a way to make the alarm calling stop! 🙂
Debora A Green says
That’s the same thing i thought. i love to be scared by movies. But i can’t stand if someone knocks on my door unexpectedly. They are so much like us. Our maybe were like them. Who knows!
Bonnie says
Terry, you are Cy’s hero. Good job.
Tobin says
Poor Cyrus pan Troglodyte…
During his time on the Bray, has he caught site of the cattle next door? Sure their front hooves don’t quite possess the manual dexterity for grooming, but people like my bovine bestie Meredith possess many salient features to their personalities. Not once has a cow incited a riot to overturn an election.
As for Terry’s intervention, his act of (choose one) heroic valor/cancel culture brought to mind the yesterday’s video of Honey B building her nest and ripping a magazine in half in pursuit of comfort. I know the feeling:. twenty years ago, I had the same urge upon reading an outrageous film review in “The New Republic” that trashed “the Pianist.”.
Isabelle says
That’s what I was wondering also!? How about the four cow neighbours?
Does he also alarm call when he sees them?:ox::ox::ox::ox:
Deanna says
what a great friend Terry is!!! WillyB was offering his own quiet support as well! Lucky girl had to make sure her bro was ok too! I hope he is not overcome when he finally gets a glimpse of his cattle neighbors!!! Oh Cy boy!!! You always make me smile!!!
Linda C says
There’s a good man, Terry!
Kathleen says
What totally fascinated me was the fact that Terry knew Cy was uncomfortable over the cow images. Terry wasn’t just tearing up the magazine, it appeared as if he went directly for the cows and chewed them out! What a good friend!
I am curious, like Tobin, did Cy ever see the cows while he was outside on the Bray and if so, what was his reaction? Cy could have seen giraffes at WW, but cows?! Of course it is hard to explain his fear of flannel shirts, panda bears, and artichokes! Pretty sure he didn’t come in contact with those at WW. Poor dear Cy.
You may need to hire a “Magazine Police” to search through Cy’s reading materials. With all the publications Cy reads on a daily basis it would easily be a part time job.
Marcie says
What a good friend to remove the scary pictures. Sometimes even superman’s cape gets a tug on it that is jarring but it’s nice to have someone around to help a big strong fella out.
Gaynell says
i volunteer to scan all magazines for possible scary animals or flannel shirts in Abercrombie & Finch catalogs. I’m sure we will get the answer as to live bovines because many of us are probably thinking Cy can see them when he is outside. I was thinking it may be necessary to put a paper shredder from Office Depot on the CSNW wish list, but I’d hate to see Terry’s fingers get caught up in something like that. Ouch.
Tobin says
When I sent Cy a special issue of Rolling Stone featuring the Grateful Dead, I marked out Bob Weir’s flannel shirt and the camels standing behind Jerry Garcia at the Egyptian Pyramids. Alas, I think Cy prefers pictures of Ryan Gosling to Garcia and Co.
Marcie says
Funny Tobin.
Jason says
Man, I love cy, but he’s quite a scaredy cat lmao thank god for terry though, wouldn’t want those cows to get cy…