Would you ever get in an enclosure with a bull? No? Me neither. But a teacher in Mexico has shown that as long as the bull doesn’t feel threatened, it won’t attack.
Testing out this theory back in 2016, teacher Ricardo Torres Martinez created a square full of people in with the bull and filmed to see what would happen during the unconventional classroom exercise at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM).
Dozens of people stood still in three straight lines while enclosed with the bull, and amazingly it didn’t thrash out at them.
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Instead, the animal could be seen darting between the rows of people and running around the pen, seemingly having fun.
Incredibly, some brave souls were even wearing red as they all stood like statues.
Posting the video on Reddit to prove the point, users commented on the clip highlighting how much trust those students must have had in their teacher.
One person said: “Hell of a lot of faith in a teacher.”
Another agreed saying: “Exactly, if my teacher said this, we'd all burst out laughing and tell her to go to hell.”
“And in the bull. They can be kinda clumsy, right? Like ok it won’t purposely attack me but if it runs into my nutsack I’m going to have a really bad couple days,” said someone else.
Many also emphasised the danger in the task.
One person commented: “God bless the man who invented permission slips!”
Others highlighted that it looked like a bull calf in the video and said that could be the reason why it seems much calmer than expected.
The clip also prompted people to ask about how the saying ‘bull in a china shop’ came about.
One Reddit user said: “Mythbusters tested the aphorism ‘bull in a china shop’ and found that the bull could run through shelves full of delicate breakables and easily avoid hitting anything. They are amazingly nimble and in control, even though they look the opposite.”
But one user pointed out: “That is less reassuring, it means when they gore someone they meant to.”
Adult bulls can often weigh between 500 and 1,000 kilograms.
Most are capable of aggressive behaviour and need careful handling to ensure safety of humans and other animals.
It’s often thought that in bull fighting, a red cloth is held as it can make the animal angry. But apparently this is a myth and bulls are in fact colour blind.
Instead, bulls become aggressive because of the movement of the matador’s cape.
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Anna Verdon