Megan and Barry Coster, two dairy farmers from Victoria’s West Gippsland region, were given the smiling surprise of a lifetime during their latest round of calving.
“My husband was collecting calves to bring in for the day,” Megan told ABC’s rural reporter Annie Brown. “And I think I was off with the kids at sport, and I just got this text message of this calf, and he’s [Barry] like ‘you won’t believe it’.
“Originally when he got the calf up he didn’t notice, and then he turned around and looked on the other side, and couldn’t believe it.”
The calf, affectionately named ‘Happy’ by the family, had been born with an award-winning grin – just not where one would expect. On his side was a very unique marking – two eyes, a nose, and a big smile.
When asked how old Happy was, Megan explained that he had only been born three or four days prior to the discovery, and went on to add that they had a lot of calving going on, so it was a busy time for them, and likely why they hadn’t immediately noticed what made Happy so special.
“We’ve seen some number sevens, or love hearts on the head, and a few strange markings but we’ve never seen anything that resembles a smiley face before … we’ve had thousands over the years, and we’ve never had anything like it,” Megan said.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she went on, before admitting she’d checked to ensure none of their staff had added any of the lines to the young cow. “And then I was pretty quickly sharing it with some of my friends – none of them could believe it either.”
Megan went on to post to Facebook, sharing a photo of their spectacular latest addition with the caption “the funniest marking we’ve had for a while”, to the delight of fellow dairy fans around the world.
“They look fake! How awesome,” wrote one individual, who seemed to share Megan’s initial disbelief, “best marking I’ve seen.”
“I guess that’s his good side,” joked another.
“Love it. That’s got to be a keeper as a pet,” said one, unaware that the family had every intention of keeping Happy on a pet – though he might also have to pull his weight as a lawn mower.
“One very happy calf,” came one declaration.
One person hit the nail on the head when they said “this one will always put a smile on your face every time u c [you see] it.”
Although not everyone was quite so onboard with the lovefest, with one woman admitting that she found it to be “a little bit clown-creepy”.
Images: Facebook
This article first appeared on Over60.