Audubon, Iowa: Albert the Bull

Albert is a 45-ton, 28-foot-tall concrete replica of the perfect Hereford bull. Push a button and he'll tell you his story. His distinctive baby blue eyes were repainted brown in Oct. 2017, after decades of complaints from local farmers.

Push a button in the interpretive kiosk and hear the story of Audubon's concrete bull.

My dad, Cam Ross, painted Albert for the first time back in 1964. He used to laugh when he told me about painting the famous "privates" of the World's Largest Bull. He told me he had to paint in short bursts when there weren't any cars driving by or people gawking and laughing. Painting a 30 foot tall concrete bull's naughty bits was a bit embarrassing!

On a related note, my graduation class of 1976 did one of the most famous augmentations of Albert's family jewels. They were painted red white and blue with stars in honor of our nation's Bicentennial! Long live Albert and Audubon!

Go to see Albert the Bull during high school football season, and you are likely to get an even "bigger" laugh. You see, I grew up 30 miles from Audubon, and it was always a great homecoming prank to have someone go and paint Albert's colossal privates our school colors...esp. when we played our homecoming game against the Audubon Wheelers. It was always fun to see who Audubon would be playing next :)

Albert the Bull stands in what is now the Albert the Bull Park and Campground just outside of Audubon, Iowa. The text in RA #2 says that if you push a button Albert will talk to you in his own voice, but I didn't see a button to push when I visited. I could have missed it, though. Talking or not, Albert is truly a sight to behold. And his gonads are truly world-class. I just had to snap a picture of my dog sitting next to Albert's 'nads while seeking refuge from the hot afternoon sun. Albert looks to be in good shape for being 37 years old, though his right flank could use some touch-up paint.