Even as a TBM sixth grader, I thought the whole wooden submarine thing highly improbable. I had been around large animals in barns, and it seemed to me that very substantial pandemonium would result from turning a bunch of occupied animal stalls upside down.
I can't see a cow being very happy or cooperative in such a situation. An unhappy and terrified cow can pack a serious kick.
See, "cows" was just the word God directed JS to use so we could understand it as modern, 19th-century readers. But the actual animal the Jaredites carried was, as we now know from revelation, the guinea pig, thus introducing it to the New World according to the plan of God, since it subsequently died out in its native Kazakhstan.
(Not many Saints are aware, but the Brother of Jared went on a weeklong bender in Central Asia before getting tight like unto a dish).
Now, brothers and sisters, you may well wonder how the Jaredites plowed their fields with guinea pigs; the answer is as plain as if it appeared on a rock in a hat. You simply harness more of them together! Yes, a cow is worth 1,000 guinea pigs.
The mere thought of carrying bees always caused a lot of laughter. I usually couldn't stop laughing and was kicked out of class. My laughter was often contagious, especially in Sunday school.