Feel a chill in the air? Not these two. The first frosty blasts of winter have little effect on Highland cattle thanks to their unusual coats. The long-haired outer layer is oily and slicks off rain and snow, keeping the fluffier undercoat dry and toasty against their skin. These two Highlanders are in a national park in Drenthe province of the Netherlands, but the breed developed by natural selection—only the fittest survived—in the wet and windy Scottish Highlands. The original Highland Cattle Herd Book, which recorded Highland cattle pedigrees, dates to 1885, making Highlanders the oldest registered cattle breed in the world.
Staring down winter
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Celebrating Charles Darwin
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A cliffside harbor in Sardinia
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Does it swim in slow motion too?
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Celebrating Minnesota’s statehood
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On this shore, history was made
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Rapa Valley in Sarek National Park, Sweden
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Greece celebrates its independence
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Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
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Taking the forest to the cloud
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Christmas Eve
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National Mushroom Month
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Goliath heron in Kruger National Park, South Africa
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A summertime light show
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Leaves of Grass
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J.R.R. Tolkien Day
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St. Patricks Day in County Waterford, Ireland
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The artists come to Venice
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Lighting the way to new beginnings
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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
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Sundance Film Festival
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Southern gemsbok in the savannah, Botswana
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Bird s-eye view on World Environment Day
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International Polar Bear Day
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Welcome to Scotland s garden
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Merry Christmas!
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Guilin and Lijiang River National Park, China
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This reef is nowhere near the sea…
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Fall comes to Pando
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A winter’s holiday ends
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Sand, sun, and sk8ers