Cow Eats Diamonds Hidden In Hay
by Sherry Morse
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An
Indian diamond merchant has been waiting almost a
month to retrieve a stash of diamonds eaten recently
by one of his cows.
Dilubhai
Rajput stashed a bag filled with more than 1700 small
diamonds, worth about $1000, in a pile of hay at his
home in the Indian state of Gujarat.
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Unfortunately,
his hungry cow ate the diamonds along with the hay.
In desperation,
Rajput has resorted to offering the cow a diet of grain,
grass, and fruit to encourage her to pass the diamonds.
He has
also briefly tried feeding the cow laxatives, but found
that the laxatives did not help her pass any more diamonds.
The grass and vegetables seem to do the job better.
Within
the first three days of the new feeding regime Rajput had
retrieved 300 of his diamonds. However, according to veterinarian
A.S. Manvar, even though Rajput was able to get some of
his diamonds back he most likely will not get all of them
back.
"The
cow is a ruminant animal which has its stomach divided in
four compartments," Manvar explained. "It is impossible
to recover all of the diamonds."
Manvar
suggested using surgery to remove the diamonds, but Rajput
rejected that idea as being sinful.
The
cow has become the center of attention for people in her
town, and even throughout the region, who wait each day
in the hope that she will produce more diamonds. Rajput
has reportedly moved his bed closer to the cow so he can
keep an eye on her.
"I
won't budge from this place," he said.
© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.