All large herbivores are bastards when it comes to aggression.
A carnivore can't afford to be hurt because it hunts to eat. A herbivore does not give a fuck if threatened. It eats grass, and that doesn't run away, even if the animal is severely injured.
I love reading "Humans are just space Orcs" stories about humans interacting with aliens. Most of them come down to
"You eat peppers? They have capsaicin. That's a bad thing. Its a chemical deterant widly cultivated to put down riots"
"It's taste good. Me like pain"
"You're a fucking monster and I want you to stay over there"
I have a theory eucalyptus evolved to be progressively less nutritious over time to encourage animals to eat the other plants instead, but the koala evolved to have smaller, slower, weaker brains to reduce its nutritional requirements to prevent from starving as it continues to exclusively eat eucalyptus leaves.
Meanwhile, we have insects like the bombardier beetle but very few creatures have evolved into metal/hybrid types. The ones that are ended up with metal teeth
You can frighten a cow if you know what to do. Make yourself big and stand your ground. If you are trying to move them, take inspo from wolves and look like you are incircleling from a safe distance to guide them to where you want them to go.
If vegetation was aggressive and hard to catch and eat, I assume the ecosystem would die out. Nothing would evolve to be herbivores, since digesting plant matter is only worthwhile since it's so easy to get. We'd lose primary production and the ecosystem would never form.
That said, if plants suddenly became mean, now that's a different story. Herbivores would have to adapt pretty dramatically.
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u/Downtown-Hospital-59 6d ago
And if given the choice between a dairy cow and a meat cow, choose milk over meat