What’s a big cud-chewing Scottish cow have to do with preserving public decency?
According to the mayor of a small Dutch town, allowing Highland heifers to graze in a nearby nature reserve will help deter couples who have scandalized the upright citizens of Spaarnwoude with their open-air sex antics.
Mayor Ellen van Hoogdalem-Arkema said the brazen behavior of amorous outdoor enthusiasts has angered and embarrassed people walking their dogs in the reserve or taking their grandchildren for a stroll.
“Visitors experience great annoyance from people having sex in public and apparently the presence of the cows turns the people off having sex,” the mayor said.
The idea of using cows to cool passions in the park originated from another nature reserve south of Amsterdam, which saw an unexpectedly serendipitous reduction in sex prowlers after allowing the cows to graze in its fields.
Van Hoogdalem-Arkema said that the reserve’s status as public land made the problem tricky to solve and urgent.
“I just got off the phone with a man who was cycling in the area with his children, when suddenly two naked men came running across the road.” she said with a sigh.
