Herd of cows



A herd of cows is what one calls a large grouping of cows.

Frequently, the pun of "herd" and "heard" has been used by the Muppets in several productions, mainly pertaining to cows, but also referring to other groupings of animals as well. The typical exchange is as follows:

"[Character referrs to a bunch of cows]

Not a bunch, herd.

Heard of what?

Herd of cows.

Of course I've heard of cows.

No, the cow's herd.

I don't care what the cow heard!"

Uses of joke

 * Rowlf the Dog and Jimmy Dean do the joke in a 1967 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
 * The joke is used as the centerpiece of the Veterinarian's Hospital sketch in episode 211 of The Muppet Show.
 * Fozzie Bear attempts to tell the joke to an actual herd of cows in Jim Frawley's Camera Tests for The Muppet Movie (though he fumbles with the wording). He successfully pulls off the joke with Kermit in episode 322 of The Muppet Show.
 * Episode 109 of The Jim Henson Hour features the exchange, only about the herd of sentient garbage bags that have invaded Muppet Central.
 * In a Global Grover segment, Grover and Fred the Wonder Horse watch a film about cow herding. Following the film, Grover asks Fred if he's ever herd a cow before. They hear a nearby moo and Fred replies, "I heard one now."
 * In Episode 4603 of Sesame Street, safari tour leader Grover says he, Elmo and a monkey passenger can pretend to be a herd of elephants. "Of course Elmo's heard of elephants," Elmo replies.