SNOHOMISH – Black fur surrounds April’s eyes on her white face.
“She is a perfect panda,” owner Nancy Udd says.
But April, who is about 2 feet tall, bends down and starts eating grass, not bamboo.
Strolling near April is her mother, Sandy, whose face also looks much like a panda’s.
Then, out of Sandy’s mouth comes, “Moo.”
Yes, they’re cows, but not regular ones. Besides their adorable, panda-like faces, they don’t grow more than 40 inches tall, said Udd, who along with her husband, Ron, owns Cedar Pond Farm.
Udd had an open house Sunday at the 10-acre farm to showcase the miniature Panda cattle breed. The farm is the first in Snohomish County to breed the rare cattle, she said.
So far, there are only 27 of the miniature cattle in the world, said Richard Gradwohl, a retired business professor who developed the breed.
Gradwohl said he and his wife, Arlene, had a 60-acre farm in Kent about 35 years ago. But like other farms, rising taxes forced them to downsize bit by bit until they ended up with just 5 acres.
Due to the limited space, the couple started looking for smaller cattle, Gradwohl said. By breeding cattle when they are young, he kept bringing down their size over 16 generations.
Then, one day in 2000, the couple found a calf in their barn that looked just like a panda, Gradwohl said.
That was the first miniature Panda cow, he said. “Actually, it was an accident,” he added.
The miniature breed eats the same food and behaves the same way as regular cattle, Udd said.
But the smaller cattle require less space, eat less and do less damage to the ground, which cuts the cost of raising them, she said.
“It could be more profitable, but we can have more animals on our land,” she said.
The rare breed has generated curiosity and interest, Udd said. “The market is really hot for them,” she said.
Udd recently sold April, which was born this spring, for $18,000 to a retired veterinarian in Orange County, Calif. The cow will be used in an institution to help disabled children.
Some people want them as pets, Udd said.
Her neighbor, Victoria Wilbanks John, said she can relate to those people.
“They are so cute,” she said. “They are just so darling neighbors. They are very tame.”
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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