Meet the steer herd around the world.
Knickers is a black-and-white Holstein Friesian living on a farm in Western Australian run by rancher Geoff Pearson. Knickers may be a head of cattle, but he’s head and shoulders above all the others. He’s taller than basketball star Steph Curry and weighs as much as a Toyota Prius.
Big cow: WA’s giant steer Knickers a viral social media sensation. https://t.co/ojLSWxGRCP
— PerthNow (@perthnow)
And of course Twitter has something to say about this. Last Week Tonight writer Josh Gondelman sees Knickers as the hero we deserve at the moment.
People: “If only there were some good news sometimes.”
The internet: “Here’s a really big cow.”
People: “Close enough for now.”— Josh Gondelman (@joshgondelman)
Screenwriter Jess Dweck likens Knickers to shopping at clothing retailer Forever 21.
Me still trying to shop at Forever 21 pic.twitter.com/Cc60PVKfxq
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck)
Actor and comedian Billy Eichner is fretting about how Disney’s The Lion King remake is going.
Um I’m starting to worry about this Lion King remake pic.twitter.com/bb0PTDrBXj
— billy eichner (@billyeichner)
Bloggers Tom & Lorenzo have a better idea for a name for the steer: “Godzillacow.”
BOW DOWN TO GODZILLACOWhttps://t.co/Srxa9m1uD7
— Tom & Lorenzo (@tomandlorenzo)
Film critic Scott Jordan Harris turned his practiced eye toward Knickers, writing, “There are absolute units looking at this guy thinking ‘look at this absolute unit’.”
There are absolute units looking at this guy thinking “look at this absolute unit”. https://t.co/tZv8ds1oPX
— Scott Jordan Harris (@ScottFilmCritic)
Knickers’ fame gives us a fabulous excuse to explore bovine terminology. A cow is a female that’s had a calf. A bull is a male that can breed. A steer is a castrated male. Knickers is a steer, but we’ll give Twitter a pass for thinking anything that’s shaped like cattle and has black and white markings is a cow.
Sadly, this means Knickers won’t be passing his jumbo genes along to any babies.
While Knickers is certainly hefty, his Wagyu cattle companions are actually somewhat dainty, which just helps to beef up the big steer’s image.
“So it turns out The Big Cow (technically a steer but shut up) is being shown surrounded by waygu cattle, which are, as we say in the business, ‘a petite moo.'” writes Twitter user Karla Pacheco.
So it turns out The Big Cow (technically a steer but shut up) is being shown surrounded by waygu cattle, which are, as we say in the business, “a petite moo.” https://t.co/GwvxKbjInT
— Karla Pacheco (@THEKarlaPacheco)
Twitter user Robert Wheel sums up all of our feelings about Knickers with an image of Spider-Man’s newspaper editor boss calling for more cow pictures for the front page.
I want more pictures of Knickers the Cow! They go on page one if you can get ’em! pic.twitter.com/1pqQhUUPqP
— Robert Wheel (@BobbyBigWheel)
Knickers has more going for him than just internet fame. Pearson told PerthNow the steer was too big to send to a beef processing facility and will get to live out his oversized life as a member of the herd.