Even More Adaptation







    Many, many generations passed as such.  The cows and bulls continued to hunt small animals and eat leaves.  As time went on, the populations of amphibians and small rodents started to decline, as did the amount of leaves within the cows’ and bulls’ reach.  Some cows and bulls, while hunting amphibians, started venturing further into the shallow waters of the pond, where they discovered certain fish and reeds living in the wetland area.  As generations passed, some cows and bulls kept venturing further into the water and began hunting larger fish, while always returning to the shore for reeds (and amphibians when the population began to rise again).  Their legs eventually grew larger to help them venture further out with more ease.  With this new source of food, the cows and bulls kept the amphibian and fish populations in balance, hunting one until the population declined, at which point they’d hunt the other.
 
 
The cows wander into the pond.
The cows find small fish and plant life.

    While some cows and bulls took to fishing, others discovered means of acquiring more food from trees.  Some trees in the forest had bark covered in large knots.  The cows and bulls discovered that they could hoist their front hooves onto the knots and raise themselves ever so much higher to reach more leaves.  As time passed, their front leg muscles got stronger.  With stronger leg muscles, they could pull themselves up a bit further, and since they were at this point much smaller than their Earth-bound ancestors, this did not present too much of a challenge.  As they learned to climb, they discovered that digging the cloven part of their back hooves made the climb easier.  So, as their climbing years went on, their back feet evolved into claw-like hooves.  These cows and bulls, though climbing for food, continued to live on the ground.  The climbing cows eventually discovered that certain small rodents also lived in the trees.  Thus, they remained carnivorous to a certain extent, but lived predominantly on fruit and leaves they found in the trees. When leaves at the top of the trees diminished, the cows and bulls resumed eating shrubs and leaves on bushes, and vice versa.
 
 
The cows venture onto a particularly large tree.
The cows forage for leaves.

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