We knew that dogs and babies make a good combination but cows and babies took us a bit by surprise. Make no mistake: This is the cutest thing you’ll see all day. A mama cow met with a Mama human who had a tiny baby in her arms.

You’re not prepared for how sweet it is to see a “Dairy God Mother” (thanks to @honeynhens for that genius moniker) try to lick a human infant.

The on-screen text on the video gives us more, “Ruth just making sure I have this parenting thing figured out.” Yup, she’s checking in on you and the little guy. Commenters had no trouble getting into the bovine’s head, like @DadBod304 with, “‘He needs to be walking already!’…. probably Ruth!” Ruth is used to baby cows who walk within an hour of their birth.

Viewer @seamonkeysix had a different take, “Ruth like “you have any idea how many babies I’ve raised? You sure you don’t want a pro in on this?'” Oh, Ruth. Luckily, she seems to have achieved top status with @Ella Pope bestowing a title on her, “She’s the god 𝑴𝑶𝑶ther.”

Related: Baby Mini Cow in Her ‘Miss Independent Era’ Refuses to Go Back in Her Pen

Why do cows lick people?

You may not realize this, but cows lick a lot. Humans. Each other. And babies, apparently. Research has found that “social licking appears to improve cows’ well-being and helps them form emotional bonds with other cows in their herd,” according to Faunalytics. In general, it’s been fairly well established that cows have friendships of a kind and prefer the company of certain members of their groups.

These behaviors appear to transfer over to human friends as well. Interestingly, one particular study in Brazil observed that “pregnant cows were found to receive 1.63 more licks on average compared to non-pregnant cows.” The human mom saw something similar in Ruth and replied to a comment with more details, “She and I had our babies one week apart, and when I was pregnant she would always sniff my belly and put her head against it!” The bond is real!

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This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Mar 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.