Scientists are constantly studying the bonds of friendship between animals of different species. They believe that this bond is often based on a maternal instinct, one animal seeing another as its young, even if it is a member of an entirely different species.
The story of Buddy’s calf and his adoptive mother Bada fits this concept perfectly: the sheepdog treats the calf-like puppy. Buda’s owners are a farming family from the Australian state of New South Wales. Coral and Wayne Elgie are raising two children and raising sheepdogs on the farm.
One of them, Bada, gave them 11 puppies. And her 12th baby was a little newborn calf. One day a dam burst near Algy’s house and after a flood, the family found a barely alive cow. The newborn calf was lying next to her, alive and well.
The farmers were unable to save the cow and took the calf with them in the hope of healing it. But what they did not expect at all is that their sheepdog, Bada, takes on the role of the nurse. Bada licked the baby like it was his own puppy, and he quickly began to call the canine family his own.
Buddy, as the calf was called, was eager to play with the puppies, he would lay down oddly, wag his tail, and generally behave like a dog, except he didn’t bark.
Although the calf grew rapidly, his friendship with the dogs endured. The sheepdog always takes care of his adopted son and always follows him when he runs around the farm.
Seeing the touching friendship between the animals, the family decided to keep Buddy on their farm permanently. He has become their pet, although he is not allowed in the house and sleeps in the barn.
