A Hereford bull in Illinois is overcome with joy when he sees his squishy toy ball, running and playing with it like a perky puppy.
The 7-year-old Bull named Spud, called “the real life Ferdinand” on Instagram, weighs in at about 1800 pounds, but he was just a 300-pound tiny tot when his “Moom,” Laura Korus, first met him back in 2016.
Korus was recruited to play soccer at Louisiana Tech University and in her senior year she took an animal science class.
Laura Korus met Spud when he was about 5 months old. Photo courtesy of Laura Korus
“Kind of like 4-H where you raise an animal for a couple of months, and then your final test is like a 4-H type show where you show off your animal in front of the judge, and then they go off to their new homes afterwards*,” she said.
Korus said when the little bull was lying down he looked like a potato, so she named him “Spud.”
“Over those months of taking care of him, getting to know him, I fell in love with him, and we did our show, I went to say goodbye to him, and then graduation was a week away,” she said.
Spud had been promised to a man in Texas to become a breeder bull.
Photo courtesy of Laura Korus
“I was sad but I knew he was going to have a life,“ said Korus.
A couple of days before graduation, Korus’ teacher called to tell her the man in Texas no longer wanted Spud and that the young bull’s future was up in the air.
“Oh, my gosh, I can’t leave Louisiana, go back home to Illinois, not knowing that Spud has a future,” she said. “So, my teacher told me well, let’s make it easy, how about he goes home with you?”
Two months later Spud was headed to Illinois.
“I graduated in May, and my teacher ended up having to come up to Illinois to get a pig from the Illinois State Fair. So, he ended up trailering Spud up to Springfield, Ill. and I met him with my trailer in the parking lot of the fairground,” said Korus.
They’d been apart for two months. Would Spud remember Moom?
“When I was taking care of him in Louisiana, every time I came up to the farm, I’d yell out his name and he would moo back to me. It was like our little just saying hello to each other,” said Korus. “So, I came up to the trailer, I yelled out Spud! and he mooed back to me. So, it was like he knew instantly. It was very sweet.”
Things That Go Pop
Spud initially stayed on Korus’ parents’ farm in Illinois and when she’d go spend time with Spud she’d sometimes have a soccer ball with her.
“So, I kind of kick it towards him just to see if he had any interest, and he would sometimes kind of like boop it with his nose, but he was more interested in eating grass,” she said.
But one day she brought a special, hard to pop green Jolly Ball.
“I don’t know what clicked for him, but he just loved it,” she said.
Spud’s goal was to get the ball out of his pen by squishing it out underneath the side panels.
“It was like a game to him,” said Korus.
But Spud kept getting bigger and stronger and he kept popping the balls.
“Because he would just drive his big head into them and squish them completely,” she said.
Spud finally moved to be with Korus, who lives by her parents’ farm in Northern Illinois. She continued to introduce new balls, but they’d last only a day.
Bulls Just Want to Have Fun
“It wasn’t until this past year a family friend was getting rid of this more industrial-size ball, and they asked if I wanted it for Spud. I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, yeah,’” she said.
That ball was named “Bally.”
“It lasted seven months,” said Korus. “It was the longest ball he’s had. So, that was probably the best one.”
Korus said Spud just adores playing with his ball.
“I mean, it’s just funny, because he’ll run around his pen, pushing it with his nose, and then he doesn’t have a lot of stamina so he gets tired but he doesn’t want to give up playing just yet,” she said. “He just smashes his head into the ball to where his nose is completely engulfed by the ball, and he just breathes out into it, like he’s blowing his nose on it, but he’s just taking a rest. I think that’s just one of the funniest things he does. He just sits there exhaling and inhaling literally the ball itself until he’s ready to play again, and then he pushes it and runs after it.”
Last year Spud got a pink camouflage ball for his 6th birthday.
“He absolutely adored it, but then that popped, and luckily, someone sent us a new pink camouflage ball, and this one’s called ‘Balloni,’” said Korus.
Birthday Balls Galore
For his 7th birthday, Spud got the surprise of his life when he was gifted with dozens of balls sent to him by his fans.
The birthday boy looked stunned by all the balls in different sizes and colors.
Korus said Spud was “mindblown.”
Spud was surprised by his truckload of birthday balls. Photo courtesy of Laura Korus
Just a Giant Grass Puppy
When he’s not playing with his ball, Spud enjoys lounging in the sun or getting a good cuddle and scritch from Moom. Korus guesses her goofy bovine may live to be 15-20 years old.
Korus said people frequently ask if it’s dangerous for her to be around the 1800-pound bull.
“I raised him since he was a baby and we’ve never had anything but respect and kindness and love in our relationship,” she said. “So, I think as the years have gone on, that has stayed true. And he just grew into this big, gentle giant, really true, awkward, silly baby.”
“I never asked him to do anything unless he wants to do it,” said Korus. “I ask him to do some pretty silly things sometimes, but he’s all game for it. If he’s having a day where he does feel a little grumpy, I don’t push him.”
Spud lives alone but Korus thinks he’s fine with that.
“I truly don’t think he cares at all,” she said. “Because, you know, it’s like people, animals, if they’re lonely, depressed, they show certain signs, and he doesn’t show any of those signs. He has a full appetite, he’s goofy and silly all the time, he lays down on his side, showing off his huge belly because he’s so content in feeling safe and protected in his area. He is a big puppy, the grass puppy, I call him.”
*Editor’s note: There is some controversy about the ultimate fate of most animals used in agricultural programs such as 4-H. This article profiles a recent example.
